Mass graves found in Izium as Ukraine recaptures territory

Izium, Sept 17: As Ukrainian troops reclaimed their territory from the Russian troops on the country’s northeastern border, the authorities found torture centers and mass graves in the areas recaptured, reported the Associated Press.

 

 

 

The Ukrainian authorities, on Friday, informed that they had found a mass burial site in Izium with over 400 bodies. Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy, on Friday, said that some of the dead were brutally tortured with ropes around their necks and broken limbs.

 

 

 

The authorities said that hundreds of bodies found had their hands tied behind their backs while some had ropes around their necks. Zelenskyy called it a “proof of war crime by an invader.” To highlight the severity of the discovery, Zelenskyy made a video and spoke about it hours after the exhumations began. Over 440 graves were found at the site but the exact number of victims was not yet known, Zelenskyy said. Before digging the graves, investigators scanned the site with metal detectors for explosives. Workers were covered in head-to-toe suits and rubber gloves. They dug the graves in a misty pine forest near Izium. In an interview with Reuters, Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy appealed to foreign powers to step up their weapons supplies. He said that the war's result depends on the rapid delivery of weapons. "As of today, there are 450 dead people, buried. But there are others, separate burials of many people. Tortured people. Entire families in certain territories," Zelensky said. He added that the authorities found hundreds of soldiers, children, and civilian adults tortured, shot, or killed by artillery shelling. Ukrainian authorities further said that the investigation had just begun and the scale of the killings could increase dramatically. “The harsh reality indicates that the number of dead in Izium may be many times higher than the Bucha tragedy,” Oleg Kotenko, an official with the Ukrainian ministry tasked with reintegrating occupied territories, said.

 

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Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday also said that despite the recent victory of the Ukrainian forces in the Kharkiv region, it was too early to say the tide of the war was turning. In an interview with Reuters, Zelenskyy noted the outcome of the war relies on the swift delivery of foreign weapons to Ukraine.