Welcome to Hard Talk on the BBC World Service with me, Stephen Sacker. My guest today is the Foreign Minister of

Ukraine, Dmitro Kuleber. As his country's chief diplomat, he's had the most senior face-to-face

encounter with the Russians since Vladimir Putin's invasion was launched in late February. But Mr. Kulabar's

meeting with Russian foreign minister

Sergei Lavrov in Turkey last month achieved little, and since then the war has entered an even

darker phase. As Ukrainian forces and international reporters entered towns and villages around

Kiev recently vacated by Russian forces, they discovered horrific

evidence of atrocities, hundreds of corpses scattered on roads and in destroyed homes, some

shot in the head. The Ukrainians say it is evidence of genocide and have pledged to investigate

and bring those responsible to justice. Russia claims the

evidence is fake, nothing more than a provocation. What is beyond doubt is the ever darker turn

this war is taking? And as the human cost rises, is there any room at all for continued

diplomacy? Well, Dmitro Kaleba joins me now from Warsaw.

Welcome, Foreign Minister, to Hard Talk. Thank you. Foreign Minister, we know that your forces,

Ukrainian forces, are now in many towns and villages recently left by Russian forces around your capital Kyiv.

Give me the latest information you have on what they have found.

It is true that Russian forces withdrew from some of the villages and towns,

but it also shouldn't be forgotten that we push them out our army pushed them out from many villages and towns too

the picture that we discovered there is horrifying it's very hard to speak about it we already have

more than 400 bodies of civilians killed, tortured, killed deliberately. There is evidence that

these were not accidents. They were killed on purpose by the Russian military. There were some

women were raped and killed after that. There are reports that dumped that some children, girls, were also raped and killed by the Russian army.

...