Satellite images appear to show a mass grave outside a church in Bucha, Ukraine

• Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv, spent weeks under Russian military control.
• It is unclear how many people may be buried in the 45-foot long trench outside the church.

Satellite images taken Thursday show a partially excavated mass grave outside a church in Bucha, nearby the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

The photos, taken by Maxar Technologies on March 31, show a 45-foot long trench located southwest of the Church of St. Andrew and Pyervozvannoho All Saints, where the bodies of Ukrainian civilians are being removed by officials.

It is unclear how many bodies have been removed from this gravesite, but the Moscow Times reported 57 people had been buried there.

Mayor Anatoly Fedoruk told AFP News Agency officials in Bucha "have already buried 280 people in mass graves" amid reports that Russian troops are withdrawing from the area and said the streets are "littered with corpses," according to the news agency.

Bucha, a city of about 28,000, became a scene of intense fighting when the invasion began on Feb. 24. The suburb of Kyiv spent weeks under Russian military control, the Kyiv Independent reported and, as the town has been retaken from withdrawing Russian troops, the remains of hundreds of murdered Ukrainian citizens have been found.