Ukraine has found 410 bodies in towns near Kyiv as part of an investigation into possible war crimes by Russia but some witnesses are so traumatised by their ordeal that they are unable to speak, the country's top prosecutor said on Sunday.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday said he was "deeply shocked" by images of dead civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, and he called for an independent investigation that "leads to effective accountability."

While the world was already passing through various challenges including Covid-19 pandemic, climate change that affected food production and supply chains, Ukraine war has further complicated the global situation in the food sector.

Ukraine yesterday accused Russian troops of war crimes after the discovery of mass graves and civilians apparently “executed” in the streets of Bucha, near the capital Kyiv.

Ukraine accuses Russian troops of war crimes after the discovery of mass graves and civilians apparently “executed” in the streets of Bucha, near the capital Kyiv.

Ukraine on Sunday accused Russian forces of carrying out a "massacre" in the town of Bucha, while Western nations reacted to images of dead bodies there with calls for new sanctions against Moscow.

Missiles struck near Ukraine's southern port of Odesa on Sunday with Russia saying it had destroyed an oil refinery used by the Ukrainian military, while attempts to evacuate people from the devastated city of Mariupol were due to continue.

Ukraine said on Saturday its forces had seized back all areas around Kyiv, claiming complete control of the capital region for the first time since Russia launched the invasion.

Maksim Levin, a photographer and videographer who was working for a Ukrainian news website and was a long-time contributor to Reuters, was killed while covering Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He leaves behind his wife and four children.

Ukraine yesterday said Russian forces were making a “rapid retreat” from northern areas around the capital Kyiv and the city of Chernigiv as the Red Cross prepared for a fresh evacuation effort from the besieged southern port of Mariupol.

Maksim Levin, a photographer and videographer who was working for a Ukrainian news website and was a long-time contributor to Reuters, was killed while covering Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The former chief prosecutor of United Nations war crimes tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda has called for an international arrest warrant to be issued for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned his people early Saturday that retreating Russian forces were creating “a complete disaster” outside the capital as they leave mines across “the whole territory,” even around homes and corpses.

Amid escalating super-power rivalries, Asian nations have to unite with like-minded countries to strengthen rule-based international order to prevent the repeat of invasions like Ukraine, said regional security and defence experts at an Asia News Network webinar.

US has warned India against warming up to Russia, ahead of a visit by Moscow's top diplomat to press New Delhi to resist Western pressure to condemn its invasion of Ukraine.

Ukrainian attack helicopters executed a low-flying pre-dawn raid on Russian territory yesterday, a Russian official said, eluding air defenses to strike a fuel depot and signalling Kyiv’s ability to broaden the field of the war.

Russia today said it has developed a system to trade in national currencies with countries like India and would intensify efforts to move away from the dollar-based payment system as visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held talks with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar in New Delhi.

Inflation in Europe soared to another record, according to new EU figures released Friday, in a fresh sign that rising energy prices fueled by Russia’s war in Ukraine are squeezing consumers and adding pressure on the central bank to raise interest rates.

Two of Ukraine's military helicopters struck a fuel depot in the Russian city of Belgorod on Friday, a Russian official has said, making the first accusation of a Ukrainian air strike on Russian soil since Moscow invaded its neighbour in late February.

Russia said a humanitarian corridor would be opened Friday (April 1) morning to allow civilians out of the besieged port city of Mariupol in south-eastern Ukraine.