440 Ukrainian mass graves found in recaptured Idium, police chief says | Ukraine

Ukrainian authorities have found a mass grave of more than 440 bodies in the eastern city of Izium recaptured from Russian forces, the local police chief said.

Serhiy Bolvinov, the chief police investigator for the Kharkiv region, told Sky News that several people were killed in shelling and airstrikes.

In a video speech Thursday night, President Volodymyr Zelensky likened the discovery: what happened in bucha“Russia leaves death everywhere and must be held accountable,” he said in a video speech on the outskirts of the capital Kyiv.

Ukraine and its allies have accused Russian forces of committing war crimes in Bucha during the early stages of its February invasion.

Bucha, a wealthy bedroom town in northwestern Kyiv, is synonymous with Russia. war crimes, where hundreds of bodies were found. After a month of fighting, Bucha was one of the first places Moscow withdrew and refocused his forces in eastern Ukraine.

Volbinov said a forensic investigation will be conducted on all bodies.

“One of the largest burial grounds in the liberated metropolis. [areas] … 440 bodies were buried in one place,” he said. “Some died in artillery fire, some in airstrikes,” he said. Thousands of Russian troops fled Izium over the weekend.

Dozens of bombed-out apartments in Izium’s city center lie derelict along the road. one of the fiercest battles in this warAt least 1,000 people were killed, according to Ukrainian officials.

Dubbed the second Mariupol after being hit by heavy bombing, the city was visited by the outside world for the first time since its recapture on Wednesday.

Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians or committing war crimes.

with Reuters