At least 20 bodies seen in one street in town near Kyiv

The bodies of at least 20 men in civilian clothes were found lying in a single street Saturday after Ukrainian forces retook the town of Bucha near Kyiv from Russian troops.

One of the bodies of the men had his hands tied, and the corpses were strewn over several hundred metres of the residential road in the suburban town northwest of the capital.

The cause of death was not immediately clear, although at least one person had what appeared to be a large head wound.

Ukrainian officials said they did not yet know who the victims were or how they died.

"This territory was not under Ukrainian control" when they were killed, a Kyiv regional official said on condition of anonymity.

"We just entered Bucha... we don't yet know what went on there.

"It could be civilians killed by bombardment or they could have been shot by Russian soldiers. Law enforcement officials will deal with it."

Ukraine on Saturday said Russian forces were making a "rapid retreat" from northern areas around the capital Kyiv, and declared earlier this week that Bucha had been "liberated".

But the town had been left devastated by the fighting, with gaping holes from shell explosions in apartment blocks and crushed cars littering the streets,  journalists who accessed the town said.