A volunteer inspects a body of killed person on a street in the town of Bucha
A volunteer inspects a body of killed person on a street in the town of BuchaREUTERS/Oleksandr Ratushniak

Western powers condemned Russia Sunday, after Ukraine accused the Russian army of massacring civilians outside of Kyiv.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Sunday that authorities in the Kyiv district are still working to locate bodies of victims killed outside of the city during the Russian siege, adding that hundreds of bodies have already been found.

"We are still gathering and looking for bodies, but the number has already gone into the hundreds.”

"Dead bodies lie on the streets. They killed civilians while staying there and when they were leaving these villages and towns.”

Kuleba demanded foreign powers impose “devastating” new sanctions on Russia, and called on the International Criminal Court to launch a war crimes probe into the allegations of a massacre outside of Kyiv.

Hundreds of bodies were found in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha over the weekend, as Ukrainian forces retook areas previously occupied by the Russian army.

Ukraine announced Saturday that it had secured control of the entire Kyiv metropolitan area.

But in its first response to the allegations, Moscow denied Sunday that its army had slaughtered civilians.

The Russian Defense Ministry called Ukraine’s accusations "another staged performance by the Kyiv regime for the Western media."

"During the time that Russian armed forces were in control of this settlement, not a single local resident suffered from any violent actions.”

Germany, France, Britain, the US, and the European Union condemned Russia following the discoveries, with France, Britain, and Germany calling for a war crimes investigation.

"We can't help but see these images as a punch in the gut," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN Sunday. "We can't become numb to this. We can't normalize this. This is the reality of what's going on every single day as long as Russia's brutality against Ukraine continues.”

France’s Foreign Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, accused Russia of “massive abuses” of the civilian population in the Kyiv district, while French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted that “Russian authorities will have to answer for these crimes.”

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for “these war crimes”, and vowed to make those responsible “accountable”.

"Those responsible for these war crimes must be made accountable. We will tighten the sanctions against Russia and will assist Ukraine even more in defending itself."