Bucha’s friends claim that a beautiful Ukrainian girl was found dead in her backyard.   

Karina Yershova (16), was shot in the back after being raped by Russian soldiers. 

The visit comes at a time when Karim Khan, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, was in Bucha. He described the Kyiv suburb of Crime Scene as a “crime scene”. 

Olesya Vasylets (a friend of Yershova’s mother) posted on Facebook that she had received terrible news from her friends. Karina, Karina’s friend was killed by Racists. Karina, 16 year old …. is in terrible pain.

She was mocked, raped and shot in trash. Today, my mother learned that her daughter had been killed. She created a support group. Help me to bury her. I had known this child for many years and taught her English. She was bright, talented, and I am grateful.  

Yershova disappeared early last month and on March 10 her mother appealed for information to ‘help me find my daughter’ who was last seen on ‘energy workers street’ in Bucha. She said, “I hope you can help me, thanks.”  

Russian forces may have deliberately targeted Yershova, but it is unclear if this was the case. The teenager’s death is the latest discovery in the Bucha massacre which left more than 400 civilians dead, although the exact number killed is still unknown.   

Karina Yershova, 16, was found shot in the back of the head after she was allegedly raped and murdered by Russian troops

Karina Yershova (16), was shot in the head. She was allegedly raped by Russian soldiers.

A friend of Yershova's mother, Olesya Vasylets wrote on Facebook: 'Friends, terrible news. Racists killed my friend's daughter Karina Yershova (pictured) 16-year-old Karina Yershova.... the pain is terrible'

Olesya Vasylets, a friend of Yershova, wrote on Facebook, “Friends, terrible information. My friend Karina Yaershova was murdered by racists (pictured). 16-year old Karina Yorshova the pain’s terrible

The teenager’s death is the latest discovery in the Bucha massacre which left more than 400 civilians dead, although the exact number killed is still unknown (pictured, officials excavate mass graves in Bucha)

The teenager’s death is the latest discovery in the Bucha massacre which left more than 400 civilians dead, although the exact number killed is still unknown (pictured, officials excavate mass graves in Bucha)

Bodies are exhumed and removed from a mass-grave in the grounds of the St. Andrew and Pyervozvannoho All Saints church in Bucha

The bodies are removed from the mass-grave on the grounds of St. Andrew and Pyervozvannoho All Saints Church in Bucha after they have been exhumed.

The discovery of more mass graves in Bucha (pictured) comes as Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) published audio that purports to show a Russian woman giving her soldier partner permission to rape locals in Ukraine

The discovery of more mass graves in Bucha (pictured) comes as Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) published audio that purports to show a Russian woman giving her soldier partner permission to rape locals in Ukraine

Horror stories about sexual abuse in Ukraine 

Elena: Raped for 12 hours on April 3 in Kherson after a Russian sympathiser told the troops her husband was a Ukrainian soldier on the front line.

Mother and daughter, 17The attack on the couple was carried out by three men, who attacked them together March 4.

Teenage sisterTargeted: The intruders were looking for girls between the ages of 15-16 years old. They cut their hair to look more attractive.

Natalya, 33: Gang raped repeatedly for hours while her four-year-old son hid crying in a boiler room after her husband was shot dead

Alexei Bychkov, 24Russian soldier arrested following sharing of footage that he is allegedly abusing a Ukrainian infant

Boy, 11: The rape took place in front his mother. She was forced to sit and watch as he was tied to the chair.

Bucha, 25 girls aged between 14 and 25,: Tendered in a basement, raped repeatedly and nine of them are pregnant.

Woman, 50: Arrest at gunpoint, taken to a neighbouring house and raped. She then returned to her dead husband. 

Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko also tweeted the news today, writing: ’16 y.o. Karina was attacked by #Russia soldiers, and then shot in the head. Her mother’s search for her ended as her tortured body was found in #Bucha.’

The ICC’s Khan, speaking in Bucha today, said: ‘We’re here because we have reasonable grounds to believe that crimes within the jurisdiction of the court are being committed. To find the truth, we must see through the fog of war. 

The discovery comes as Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) published audio that purports to show a Russian woman giving her soldier partner permission to rape locals in Ukraine.

In the recording post on Telegram, the woman is hears telling the soldier: ‘Ok, you can rape those Ukrainian women.’ She added that he should not tell her about it and that he should use protection.  

On Wednesday, President Vlodymyr Zelensky said that there was still evidence of “inhuman cruelty” toward women and children in Bucha.

International law considers rape and killing civilians a war crime. 

Already, an investigation is being conducted in Ukraine into war crimes. This includes the atrocities discovered after Moscow’s withdraw from Kyiv and other cities. 

The Interior Ministry reported Wednesday that more than 720 were killed in Kyiv suburbs occupied by Russian troops. More than 200 people are missing. 

Bucha Mayor Anatoliy Fedoruk stated that 403 bodies were found in Bucha. The number could increase as miners sweep the region. 

A man pushes his bike through debris and destroyed Russian military vehicles on a street in Bucha

One man pedals his bike along a Bucha road, pushing it through rubble and broken Russian military vehicles.

Civilians inspect the wreckage of a tank in the town of Bucha, the scene of horrific Russian atrocities

Civilians examine the destruction of a tank at Bucha, which was the location of horrendous Russian atrocities.

Vladyslava Liubarets, a Bucha resident, walks with her family past destroyed Russian military machinery

Vladyslava Liubarets (a Bucha resident) walks past the destroyed Russian military machinery with her family.

A satellite image taken of a street in the city of Bucha on March 19 - when Russian forces were in full control of the city - shows dark objects in the road that exactly match where civilian corpses were later discovered by Ukrainian troops

Satellite image of Bucha’s street on March 19, when Russian forces held full control of it, shows dark objects that match exactly where the Ukrainian troops later found civilian bodies.

Pictured: Locals carry a coffin on a wheelbarrow as the city was hit by shelling in the small city of Borodyanka near Kiev

Pictured: A coffin is carried by locals on a wheelbarrow after the city was shelled in Borodyanka, near Kiev.

Cemetery workers unload bodies of civilians killed in and around Bucha before they are transported to the morgue at a cemetery

Before they can be transported to the cemetery’s morgue, grave workers load bodies from civilians who were killed in Bucha and surrounding areas.

War crime prosecutor's team member speaks on the phone next to buildings that were destroyed by Russian shelling, amid Russia's Invasion of Ukraine, in Borodyanka

One of the war crime prosecution team members speaks to Borodyanka from behind the phones next to buildings destroyed by Russian bombardment, during Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

The chief prosecutor from the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, (pictured in August 2021) visited Bucha today, describing the Kyiv suburb as a 'crime scene'

Karim Khan, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, visited Bucha today. He described Kyiv’s suburb as a “crime scene”.

Chernihiv residents claimed that more than 300 had been held captive for nearly a month in the cellar of a school. They were not allowed to use the outside toilets or to cook outdoors. 

According to Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office, Tuesday’s events were also being investigated by the Brovary District located northeast of capital. 

The Russian military were suspected to have been responsible for the deaths of six civilians found in Shevchenkove basement with gunshot wounds.

Investigators are investigating claims that Russian forces attacked a convoy trying to escape by car from Peremoha, Brovary District. This killed four persons including a boy of 13 years. 

According to prosecutors, there was another attack in Bucha that resulted in five deaths, including two children, when a car was shot at. 

Forensic investigators began exhuming a mass grave in Bucha containing more than 410 bodies of civilians, according to Ukrainian officials. The UN Human Rights Council has decided to launch an investigation into the violations committed after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Parliament reported

Officials in Ukraine reported that forensic investigators had begun exhuming a Bucha mass grave containing over 410 corpses of civilians. According to the Ukrainian Parliament, the UN Human Rights Council decided that an inquiry would be launched into violations of Ukraine’s sovereignty after Russia invaded.

Members of an international team of war crimes prosecutors and Prosecutor General of Ukraine Iryna Venediktova (C) during a visit to a mass grave in Bucha, Kyiv (Kiev) area, Ukraine, 12 April 2022

Members of an International Team of War Crimes Prosecutors and Iryna Vinediktova (C), when they visited a mass cemetery in Bucha (Kiev), Ukraine on 12 April 2022