Ukrainian police search for bodies and collaborators in the ruins of Bucha and Borodyanka

Law enforcement and security services in Kyiv are looking into at least 10 cases of local residents in the Bucha region suspected of collaborating with Russian troops accused of committing war crimes, the city's deputy head of police said Monday.

Maksym Ocheretianyi refused to identify the suspectsduring a special media briefing on Mondayand would only say that some individuals who might have been "involved in collaboration with the enemy" were notified recently that they are under suspicion.

Bucha, a small community outside of Kyiv, was the scene of some of the most horrific atrocities committed against civilians in the two months since Russian forces invadedUkraine. Moscow denies its troops carried out the slaughter there or in other nearby communities, such as Borodyanka.

WATCH | Bucha resident describes terrifying encounter with Russian troops:

Bucha resident describes terrifying encounter with Russian troops

2 years ago

Duration 5:50

WARNING: This video contains graphic footage and distressing details | A resident in Ukraines Bucha recounts what it was like when Russian troops invaded the city and why he thinks he survived a harrowing ordeal with them.

The cases of alleged collaborationare still under investigation, andOcheretianyi wouldn't speculate on whether the investigations could lead to charges. The fate of the accused wouldbe "decided by the court of law," he said.

Ukraine's prosecutor general,Irina Venediktova,said Sunday that as many 15cases of collusion could be prosecuted in the country's capital.

That is fewer than the number of suspected traitors the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said it was pursuing last month. Artyom Dehtyarenko, an SBU spokesperson, was quoted by the local Kyiv Independent newspaper saying 33 alleged collaborators have been identified throughout the Kyiv region.

The SBU, the national and local police, the Ukrainian military's territorial defence units and the State Emergency Service say they are working togetherto find suspected collaborators and possibly prosecute them for treason.

When Russian troops pushed to the edge of Kyiv in early March, they reportedly carried with them lists of names and addresses ofpeople to be arrested during the occupationperhaps culled from a hack of Ukraine's auto insurance registry in early January, a cybercrime revealed by authorities recently. They also worked with local residents sympathetic to Moscow.

Back in February, the United States reported that it had "credible information" that Russian forces were compiling lists of Ukrainians to be killed or interned in the event of occupation.

Collaborators could have been involved in helping to track down individuals the Russians wanted to arrest, or could have pointed out Ukrainian military positions.

Murder in a war zone

The war unleashed a series of crimes that may have nothing to do with the atrocities committed by Russians, Ocheretianyi said, and efforts to distinguish those investigations from the effects of the war are underway.

For example, up to 114 people have been notified that they are suspected of murder, he said.

"Unfortunately, we do have such facts, but, you know, our responsibility as law enforcement is to identify such people and bring them" to justice, Ocheretianyi said in translated comments Monday.

Venediktova said her office is investigating 9,158 criminal cases that are related to "purely war crimes."

Her team unveiled its first war crimes charges last week against members of Russia's military.

Three weeks ago, the RCMP announced it would help Ukrainian authorities by interviewing those who fled to Canada about what they witnessed.

Britain,Franceand other allies this weekdispatched investigators to help with the investigation and promised to use intelligence to link specific Russian military commanders with specific crimes.

Ocheretianyi said authorities have recovered bodies of 1,202 civilians from the Kyiv regionso far, but identifyingthe remains can bedifficult. Eight mass graves have been uncovered in the area.

"These are local, innocent civilians, our citizens," Ocheretianyi said.

"Those dead bodies have clear signs of torture. Not only have their hands been tied up ... they also have been [shot] in their legs. They were killed by [being shot] in their head. That brutality, that cruelty terrifies police officers and the public."

WATCH | The first civilians emerged from the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol Monday:

Trapped residents emerge from Azovstal steel mill in Mariupol, Ukraine

2 years ago

Duration 0:58

As many as 100 people, most of whom had been trapped underground at the Azovstal steel mill in Mariupol, Ukraine, have left via a safe corridor.