Topline
Ukraine discovered a burial site containing hundreds of bodies in Izium, a city in the Kharkiv region that was reclaimed from Russian forces last week, Ukrainian officials said Thursday, the latest allegation of mass burials in a Ukrainian city occupied by Russia.
This photograph taken on September 11, 2022, shows a Ukrainian soldier standing atop an abandoned … [+]
Key Facts
More than 400 bodies were found in the graves, according to the Ukrainian government’s Centre for Strategic Communication, which shared photos of what appear to be makeshift wooden crosses placed on burial plots in a forest.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday an investigation into the graves has begun and more information will be available Friday, adding that “Russia leaves death everywhere and it must be held accountable for that.”
Roughly 1,000 bodies have been found in Izium since it was retaken last week, Anton Gerashchenko, an Interior Ministry advisor who traveled with Zelensky to the city, told the BBC Thursday.
Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians or committing war crimes in Ukraine.
Surprising Fact
The destruction in Izium is among the worst found by Ukrainian troops in a recaptured city, Gerashchenko said, describing the scene as “even worse than the tragedy in Bucha,” a Kyiv suburb where 458 bodies were found in April. The New York Times documented Russian forces torturing, raping and executing Ukranian civilians in Bucha during their occupation of the city early in the war, and after Russia withdrew from the city and abandoned its push to surround Kyiv, many bodies were found in the streets or in makeshift graves. Russia has also been accused of depositing hundreds of civilians’ bodies in a grave site outside Mariupol, a southeastern city that was under siege for months before eventually being occupied by Russia.
Key Background
Izium was under Russian occupation for more than six months, but was reclaimed by Ukraine last week in a counteroffensive that marked one of the biggest blows to Russia in the seven-month-long war. On Monday, Ukraine said it had reclaimed some 20 towns and villages in Kharkiv in just one day in a blitz that appeared to catch Moscow off-guard. Russian troops quickly withdrew from the region in such a rush that some weapons and ammunition were left behind, according to the Associated Press. Losing Izium marked one of Russia’s biggest defeats of the offensive, as the city had become an important supply hub and logistics center for its eastern forces.
Further Reading
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2022/09/15/ukraine-says-it-found-another-mass-burial-site-in-territory-reclaimed-from-russia/