A mass grave has been discovered in the town of Bucha, in the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, a CNN team found.
Bodies were first buried in the grave, on the grounds of the Church of St. Andrew and Pyervozvannoho All Saints, in the first days of the war, residents told CNN.
CNN saw at least a dozen bodies in body bags pilled inside the grave. Some were already partially covered.
According to residents, more bodies are already buried on site. They said they belong mostly to civilians killed in the fighting around Bucha.
Residents told CNN that around 150 people are buried there.
The mayor of Bucha said in public remarks on Saturday that there could be up to 300 victims buried on site.
CNN was unable to independently verify those numbers or the identities and nationalities of those buried in the grave.
The earth on the church grounds appeared to have been recently moved so it is feasible that a larger number of bodies is buried there.
Bucha has seen some of the heaviest fighting since the war started.
Destroyed Russian vehicles line the streets and most houses have been damaged in some way, with a large portion of the buildings there completely destroyed.
CNN’s Senior International Correspondent Fred Pleitgen, producer Vasco Cotovio, producer Daria Markina and photojournalist Byron Blunt also saw people at the site of the mass grave crying and looking for the bodies of lost loved ones.
