HEARTLESS Russian death squads slaughtered civilians and even stopped rescuers from saving screaming victims as they annihilated a town close to Kyiv.

Borodyanka has been reduced to little more than a wasteland amid fears the death toll could be "worse than Bucha" after terrifying Russian airstrikes buried civilians beneath endless mountains of rubble.

The small town just north-west of the capital was one of the first areas to be decimated after Vladimir Putin ordered his troops into Ukraine on February 24.

Russian jets tore across the town, unleashing bombs from above as several apartment blocks crumbled – burying the dozens of people taking shelter in their apartments.

More than 200 people are feared dead following the cruel shelling attacks according to acting mayor Gerogii Yerko, as heartbreaking pictures show distraught residents weeping as they walked through the destruction.

Haunting drone footage reveals the sheer level of destruction in the one-street town with piles of debris surrounding the burnt-out remains of apartment blocks where people once lived.

Read more on Ukraine

Ukraine’s president compares Putin’s savage troops to ISIS monsters

Putin’s inner circle at war as Chechen warlord blasts LACK of brutality

Borodyanka resident Svitlana Stashevskyi watched on in horror as buildings crumbled amid the savage airstrikes, leaving many buried alive.

She claims Russian troops even stopped rescuers digging to save people crushed by the mounds of smoldering rubble as their harrowing screams rung out.

Svitlana told the BBC: "Shortly after the airstrike, people nearby heard voices shouting for help.

"The Russian soldiers stopped them digging. They threatened to shoot if they tried."

Most read in The Sun

According to reports, Putin's butchers fired rockets directly at people's homes in the town – despite agreeing not to target citizens.

Petrified locals have even claimed some people were kidnapped and taken to Belarus.

Nikita, 16, told The Telegraph: "They kidnapped people, they tortured our friend. Some people were abducted, interrogated and taken to Belarus.

"They occupied our whole town, destroyed our homes and stole food from the citizens. It was hell."

Another woman told the outlet that bereaved families had been told by a local priest to bury loved ones slaughtered in the merciless attacks in their gardens as it was not safe to take them to the church.

Putin's troops blew up bridges and blockaded the area – leaving survivors to starve as supplies couldn't reach the town, reports The New York Times.

Retreating Russian soldiers have left a never-ending path of burnt-out cars and tanks amid reports mines and IEDs have been laid out on roads.

Borodyanka's death toll remains unclear, but Volodymyr Zelensky has warned it could be higher than Bucha – where Russian troops have been accused of war crimes.

"There is already information that the number of victims may be even higher in Borodyanka and some other liberated cities," the Ukrainian president said on Monday.

Harrowing pictures from the city of Bucha, to the north-west of the capital Kyiv, showed the bodies of civilians scattered in the road and in shallow graves — many with bound hands and signs of torture.

Some of them, from the wounds they had suffered, had been shot from close range.

A satellite image taken of Bucha at the end of last month, when Russian forces were in control of the city, shows a 45ft long mass grave dug behind a church.

It comes as…

• Putin's 'butcher of Bucha' who 'oversaw rape & genocide' was blessed by priest
• Ukraine's president compares Putin's savage troops to ISIS monsters
• Moment Russian army vehicles 'fire on cyclist' in town rocked by war crimes
• Russia shamelessly claims BRITAIN 'staged' Putin's genocide in Bucha
• Moscow will face 'maximum sanctions' following war crimes, warns Truss

Ukrainian and Western leaders have accused Russia of carrying out the massacre of civilians and dumping their bodies in makeshift burial plots.

Ukraine’s prosecutor-general said the bodies of 410 civilians have been recovered from towns surrounding Kyiv after last week’s withdrawal of Russian troops.

Western leaders and Ukraine have accused Russia of carrying out the massacre of civilians and dumping their bodies in makeshift burial plots.

Ukraine’s prosecutor-general said the bodies of 410 civilians have been recovered from towns surrounding Kyiv after last week’s withdrawal of Russian troops.

Zelensky was pictured fighting back tears as he visited Bucha, as he vowed to ensure that the “war crimes” committed by Russian soldiers on his country’s soil were “the last such evil on Earth”.

But the Kremlin has denied accusations its troops committed war crimes in Ukraine.

Read More on The Sun

Charles letters reveal he asked paedophile Jimmy Savile to advise royals

Sanctioned Abramovich ‘begs pals to lend him £1M to stay afloat’

Russian propanda has even shamelessly attempted to suggest chilling pictures of dead bodies in Bucha were staged by Ukraine and the West to discredit Putin.

Moscow has denied the massacre happened, with a state TV report making twisted claims that it was was "staged" and amounted to "provocation" which was "done by professionals, probably British".

Source: Read Full Article