Ukrainian president to address UN Security Council

By Rabia Iclal Turan

ISTANBUL (AA) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will address the UN Security Council at a meeting Tuesday on Ukraine.

The UK, the president of the Security Council in April, announced on Twitter that they will ensure that "the truth is heard about Russia’s war crimes."

"We will expose (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s war for what it really is," the UK's mission to the UN said in a tweet.

Zelenskyy on Monday visited the city of Bucha, where Ukrainian troops are said to have found the bodies of civilians following the withdrawal of Russian troops.

Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova said 410 civilian bodies were recovered from areas in the wider Kyiv region.

Russia denied the footage showing dead civilians in Bucha near Ukraine's capital as "fake" and a "provocation."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for an independent investigation into the issue.

The US, UK, Germany and some European Union countries have also accused Russia of committing “war crimes” in Ukraine following reports of atrocities in Bucha.

The Turkish Embassy in Kyiv said the images of the massacre reported by media from various regions near Kyiv, including Bucha and Irpin, are ”horrifying” and called for an "independent investigation.”

Russia has denied that its troops killed civilians while withdrawing from towns near Kyiv.

Russia’s war against Ukraine, which started on Feb. 24, has been met with international outrage, with the European Union, US and UK, among others, implementing tough sanctions on Moscow.

At least 1,430 civilians have been killed in Ukraine and 2,097 injured, according to UN estimates, with the true figure feared to be far higher.

More than 4.21 million Ukrainians have also fled to other countries, with millions more internally displaced, according to the UN refugee agency.