Civilians lie slain as Russian troops flee Ukraine push

Just to the east of the village of Kyrylivka in the Kharkiv region, on an exposed section of road close to the frontline, lay the bodies of a group of at least 11 civilians gunned down in cars and a minibus.There was no way to independently confirm this version of events, and reporters were only able to remain on the scene for a short time before artillery fire began to erupt on the still active frontline.- Bullet holes -"The vehicles were moving all together as a civilian convoy. We can see that there is almost no distance between the vehicles," said "Filya", a Ukrainian soldier who guided AFP to the scene. Ukrainian troops recaptured Kupiansk -- a rail hub once used by the Russians to supply their troops -- and a crossing point on the Oskil river in early September after a lightning counteroffensive.Russian forces have often been accused of murdering civilians in occupied areas during the seven-month-old war, and on Friday a Russian strike killed 25 civilians in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia.Whoever shot up the convoy, the victims appear to be civilians.A cream-coloured Lada car with its boot open is stopped ahead of the bus, with a middle-aged man in a hat and blue jeans lying dead in the road beside a plastic bag of luggage.In all, AFP reporters counted 11 bodies at the scene, which has yet to be cleared or visited by prosecutors or forensic investigators.   - 'Kamikaze drone' -One, a T-90A, is seen as a great prize. Filya's unit is confident they can recover it, fix it and return it -- and its relatively advanced thermal imaging sensors -- to the fight, along with two more decrepit looking older and abandoned T-72s.dc/bur/rl...

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September 30, 2022 at 11:14PM
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Just to the east of the village of Kyrylivka in the Kharkiv region, on an exposed section of road close to the frontline, lay the bodies of a group of at least 11 civilians gunned down in cars and a minibus.There was no way to independently confirm this version of events, and reporters were only able to remain on the scene for a short time before artillery fire began to erupt on the still active frontline.- Bullet holes -"The vehicles were moving all together as a civilian convoy. We can see that there is almost no distance between the vehicles," said "Filya", a Ukrainian soldier who guided AFP to the scene. Ukrainian troops recaptured Kupiansk -- a rail hub once used by the Russians to supply their troops -- and a crossing point on the Oskil river in early September after a lightning counteroffensive.Russian forces have often been accused of murdering civilians in occupied areas during the seven-month-old war, and on Friday a Russian strike killed 25 civilians in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia.Whoever shot up the convoy, the victims appear to be civilians.A cream-coloured Lada car with its boot open is stopped ahead of the bus, with a middle-aged man in a hat and blue jeans lying dead in the road beside a plastic bag of luggage.In all, AFP reporters counted 11 bodies at the scene, which has yet to be cleared or visited by prosecutors or forensic investigators.   - 'Kamikaze drone' -One, a T-90A, is seen as a great prize. Filya's unit is confident they can recover it, fix it and return it -- and its relatively advanced thermal imaging sensors -- to the fight, along with two more decrepit looking older and abandoned T-72s.dc/bur/rl...