Exhumation in Izium goes on, 263 bodies recovered, including children’s
WEDNESDAY, 21 SEPTEMBER 2022, 12:59
As of 20 September, 263 bodies, including 2 children’s, have been recovered from a mass burial site in the town of Izium in Kharkiv Oblast.
Source: press centre of the National Police in Kharkiv Oblast
Details: Forensics counted 450 burial sites of Ukrainian citizens who were tortured and killed, as well as one common grave for soldiers, all in a local forest. The police report that the bodies are in an advanced state of decomposition; therefore, the police will obtain more detailed information after the forensic examination, which is already scheduled, takes place.
Some of the bodies recovered bear signs of torture. In particular, some of them have their hands tied and received stab wounds. Investigators are also examining a recently revealed torture chamber in the Izium district.
Witnesses of the tragedy are informing the police about locations of Russian troops, their headquarters, commandant’s office and places where Ukrainians were held and tortured.
Background:
- On 15 September, it was revealed that a mass grave containing 440 bodies had been found in the liberated city of Izium, in the Kharkiv region.
- Oleh Kotenko, the Commissioner for Persons Missing Under Special Circumstances, said that the number of people killed in Izium could be several times higher than that reported after the Bucha tragedy.
- On 18 September, Valerii Marchenko, the Mayor of Izium said that the exhumation of bodies would go on for almost two weeks.
- Maxar Technologies, an American company, published satellite images of the Pishchanske cemetery near Izium.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine mentioned the evidence of war crimes committed by Russian occupying forces in the recently liberated city of Izium in Kharkiv Oblast, and confirmed that the UN would send a mission to Kharkiv Oblast [to investigate these crimes].
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