Anatoliy Fedoruk added during a briefing that it was too early for residents to return to the town, after Russian soldiers retreated late last month.

Read here Kharkiv came under heavy shelling, Mariupol is ready for a "last battle"

Authorities began recovering bodies from a mass grave the Church of St Andrew and All Saints in the town, which was visited last week by the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen.