Human Rights Watch accuses Russian forces of 'apparent war crimes' in Ukraine

The statement came one day after dead civilians were found lying scattered through the streets of the Ukrainian country town of Bucha

A leading rights group said on Sunday it had documented what it described as "apparent war crimes" committed by Russian military forces against civilians in Ukraine.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a statement saying it had found "several cases of Russian military forces committing laws-of-war violations" in Russian-controlled regions such as Chernihiv, Kharkiv, and Kyiv.

The statement, published in Warsaw, came one day after dead civilians were found lying scattered through the streets of the Ukrainian country town of Bucha, three days after the Russian army pulled back after a month-long occupation of the area 30 km (20 miles) northwest of Kyiv.

The Russian defence ministry in Moscow did not immediately reply to a request for comment when asked on Sunday about the bodies found in Bucha and the HRW statement.

The Kremlin says its "special military operation" aims to degrade the Ukrainian armed forces and is targeting military installations and not carrying out strikes on civilians.

Asked about separate war crime allegations on March 1, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a conference call with reporters, "We categorically deny this". He dismissed allegations of Russian strikes on civilian targets and the use of cluster bombs and vacuum bombs as fakes.

Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on March 21 that Russia's operation was being carried out by a professional and well-armed forces and denied Ukrainian claims that Russian forces had hit any civilian objects.