Allegedly around 440 dead
Authorities dig mass grave in Izyum
09/16/2022, 00:04
The Kharkiv region has been under Russian occupation for months. What the troops are doing during this time is currently being investigated by Ukrainian authorities. In Izyum they come across a place where hundreds of dead people have apparently been buried.
After the Ukrainian military recaptured the city of Izyum in the Kharkiv region, a mass grave with around 440 bodies is said to have been discovered there. The British broadcaster reports Sky News citing local authorities. The Ukrainian President Selenskyj confirmed the find in his evening video speech without commenting on the number of dead found there. The investigations had begun, and the first findings should be available on Friday, according to Selenskyj
Serhii Bolvinov, the region’s chief police investigator, told Sky News the bodies were buried one by one. They would now be exhumed and taken for forensic examination. The police want to collect evidence of alleged Russian war crimes in cooperation with the public prosecutor’s office and other investigators.
The police officers are also aware of a number of other graves in the Kharkiv area. The mass grave in Izyum, which had been under Russian control for months, is one of the largest. “About 440 bodies were buried in one place,” Bolvinov said.
Zelenskyj announces more information
It is already known that some of the people had been shot. Others died from artillery fire or air raids. Many bodies have not yet been identified, Bolnikov said.
President Zelenskyy announced further information in his video address for Friday: “Tomorrow Ukrainian and international journalists will be in Izyum. We want the world to know what really happened and what the Russian occupation has led to. Bucha, Mariupol and now unfortunately also Izyum …”, he said. “Russia is leaving death behind everywhere. And it must be held accountable for that,” the president demanded. Bucha has become synonymous with Russian war crimes since scores of civilian bodies were found there after troops withdrew from the Kyiv region in May.