The European Union said in a statement on Monday that it condemns in the strongest possible terms the reported "atrocities" committed by the Russian armed forces in several occupied Ukrainian towns, which have now been liberated.

"In particular, we fully support the investigation launched by the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor into crimes against humanity as well as the work of the OHCHR Commission of Inquiry. The EU is assisting the Ukrainian Prosecutor General and Civil Society focused on collection and preservation of the evidences," the statement added.

Russia has rejected the accusation that Russian troops have killed civilians in Ukraine's Kyiv region and requested that the United Nations Security Council convene on Monday to discuss what it called a "provocation by Ukrainian radicals" in the town of Bucha.