Satellite image shows 300 metre long mass grave with Mariupol citizens in Manhush

Thursday, 21 April 2022, 18:41

Reporters obtained satellite images of a mass grave in Manhush where Russian occupying troops buried citizens of Mariupol.

Source: Skhemy, citing Maxar Technologies satellite images and Petro Andriushchenko, Advisor to the Mayor of Mariupol

Details: Satellite images show that a 300 metre long trench appeared near the village of Manhush at the end of March.

On an image from 23 March, there was no trench yet. Visual indicators suggesting a mass grave first appeared on the image from 29 March.

The image from 9 April shows that the trench was partially filled with earth and that its length had increased.

Andriushchenko told reporters that Russian occupying troops collect the bodies of dead residents of Mariupol from the city’s streets and take them to large refrigerated chambers at industrial facilities. The bodies of civilians are then put in black bags and disposed of in mass graves outside of Mariupol.

According to Andriushchenko: "My understanding is that that’s where they take the bodies. The weather is already getting warm – you know what happens to corpses…They had to begin [transporting the bodies] at the end of March.

We don’t know how many bodies there are or how to count them. There must be thousands of them there…But at last we have established where they are taking at least some of the people who were killed in Mariupol."

Details: By way of comparison, Skhemy reports that the mass grave in Bucha, where 70 bodies were found, is 14 metres long. The mass grave outside of Manhush is 300 metres long.

Background:

• Andriushchenko reported that the bodies of Mariupol residents killed in the city are being taken to mass graves outside of the city, in particular to Manhush.
• On 19 April it transpired that Russian occupiers in Mariupol are trying to "legalise" the burial of the bodies of civilians, collecting information about the dead and missing Mariupol residents, and monitoring social media groups where people can search for their missing relatives.
• As of the afternoon of 21 April, Russian occupiers are continuing to shell and drop bombs on the territory of the Azovstal plant in Mariupol, where both military and civilians are hiding.
• On 20 April a 91-year-old Jewish woman, survivor of the Nazi occupation during WWII, died from exhaustion in a Mariupol basement.
• Russian occupiers are forcing civilians in Mariupol to wear white ribbons on their sleeves – just as Russian soldiers themselves do – under the threat of shooting them. This is the Russians’ way of provoking Ukrainian soldiers to shoot civilians in Mariupol.