KYIV (AFP) - The bodies of nine civilians, some showing signs of torture, have been found in the town of Borodianka outside the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, a senior police official said.

"These people were killed by the occupiers and some show signs of torture. I want to emphasise that these people were civilians. The Russian military knowingly shot civilians who did not put up any resistance," the head of the police in the Kyiv region Andriy Niebytov said overnight Wednesday (April 20) to Thursday.

The pullback of Russian forces from towns and villages around Kyiv left a trail of civilian deaths, beginning with discoveries in Bucha, that have led Ukrainian officials to accuse Russia of genocide.

Mr Niebytov said police had discovered two graves around Borodianka.

In one grave, three people - including a 15-year-old girl - were discovered and a second grave held the bodies of six people, he said.

All of them were locals, he added.

Authorities in Kyiv say hundreds of bodies of civilians killed have been found in areas controlled by Russian forces around the capital in the opening stages of the Feb 24 invasion.