The Hague-based International Criminal Court, which deals with rights abuses, has investigators in Ukraine and told reporters the country had become a “crime scene”.

Officials in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha – now synonymous with scores of atrocities – say more than 400 people were found dead after Moscow’s forces withdrew, with 25 reported rapes.

“We’re here because we have reasonable grounds to believe that crimes within the jurisdiction of the court are being committed”, - the ICC’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan said on a visit to the town.

Meanwhile, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe said Russia had engaged in “clear patterns of international humanitarian law violations”.