Dozens of dead civilians
Mass grave found west of Kyiv
4/10/2022 12:04 p.m
A pit with dozens of dead bodies has been discovered near the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. According to the mayor of the village of Busowa, they are civilians. Meanwhile, in the east of the country, the governor of the Luhansk region is warning of an imminent offensive by Russian troops.
After the withdrawal of Russian troops, dozens of dead civilians were discovered in a mass grave west of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. “Today we found dead civilians in a pit near the gas station in Busova,” community leader Taras Didych told Ukrainian television. On the route from Kyiv to Zhytomyr, about 15 kilometers from the capital, the bodies of a dozen cars that had been shot at were found.
In the first days of the war, Russian troops tried to blockade the Ukrainian capital. However, they were stopped and pushed back by Ukrainian units on the main route to the west. After the complete withdrawal of Russian troops from northern Ukraine, mass graves with civilians are being found in more and more places.
A good six weeks ago, Russia attacked Ukraine. The United Nations had already registered more than 1,700 dead civilians. However, like the Ukrainian government in Kyiv, they assume that the number of civilian casualties will be far higher.
“They don’t know any more morals”
Meanwhile, the governor of the Luhansk region is assuming that the Russians will soon launch an offensive in eastern Ukraine. “It’s a matter of days,” Serhij Hajdaj told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. “They reposition themselves at the border and keep bombing us. They no longer know any morals: They level hospitals, schools and houses with the ground.”
In the self-proclaimed “people’s republics” of Luhansk and Donetsk, pro-Russian separatists are in charge. Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized both as independent states and then launched a war of aggression against Ukraine.
When asked what was to come, Hajdaj said, “Hell.” He reminded of Bucha or Mariupol, where serious attacks and war crimes have been observed for weeks. “It’s going to get a lot worse for us,” the governor said. Unlike in other parts of the country, there are hardly any bunkers left in Luhansk for the Ukrainians to seek shelter in. “We hide in the cellars. I’m trying to convince all my fellow citizens to leave here.”
In an interview with the online newspaper Ukrajinska Pravda, Hajdaj accused the Russian troops of indiscriminately shelling them with all available weapons. “Heavy artillery, including 152 millimeters. Mortars of all calibers, multiple rocket launchers, rockets, air forces. It’s just horrific,” said the 46-year-old.
The end of the war with a possible negotiated solution will depend on the expected large-scale Russian attack in Donbass. “If we don’t completely smash it, there will be another attack after a while, after a year and a half to two years,” he said.