Burial site with 17 bodies found in Kharkiv region – Russians didn’t allow them to be marked

THURSDAY, 27 OCTOBER 2022, 15:32

At least 17 people were buried in a mass grave in the Borova district of Kharkiv Oblast in April. Now, the bodies are being sent for forensic examination.

Source: Dmytro Soima, Deputy Head of the Investigative Department of the National Police of Ukraine in Kharkiv Oblast, the Kharkiv Oblast Police

Details: Residents of the village of Kopanka reported the mass grave. Locals told the investigators that the occupiers had been collecting bodies throughout the district.

On 13 April, they brought the bodies in two trucks, dug a 3-metre deep pit with an excavator and dumped all the bodies there. Then they levelled the earth using tanks.

According to preliminary reports, at least 17 people were buried in the grave, including both civilians and soldiers from the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The three bodies of servicemen were retrieved by the investigators on the first day of work.

Quote: "According to preliminary reports, 17 bodies were retrieved, but this information is not precise. Locals state that the Ukrainian troops died in combat as they were retreating and then were buried here. Russians did not mark the grave and did not allow the village residents to do so.

Only on Easter did they let people come to the cemetery and care for the site of the mass burial. People found three crosses and marked the grave perimeter with them, then removed the weeds".

Details: A forensic medical examination will be conducted on all bodies in order to determine the exact cause of death of each victim.

The investigators opened a criminal case under Art. 110.3 (violation of the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine). The article envisages a punishment of ten to fifteen years of imprisonment or life in prison.

The investigators of the Investigative department of the National Police of Ukraine in Kharkiv Oblast, the Investigative and operative group of the Borova police department, experts, criminologists, bomb disposal experts, the Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutor’s Office and the Security Service of Ukraine continue to work on site of the mass burial of citizens of Ukraine.

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