Zelenskyy: Mass grave with bodies of 900 civilians found in Kyiv Region

Denys Karlovskyi – Friday, 29 April 2022, 20:26

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine said that law enforcement officers have uncovered another mass grave containing the bodies of around 900 civilians in part of Kyiv Region which was under Russian occupation in March.

Source: Zelenskyy in an interview with Polish media

According to Zelenskyy: "International institutions sometimes really do act quite slowly and sometimes […] people cannot be held accountable due to the lack of evidence, despite the existence of eyewitnesses, despite everyone having seen it [the crime] take place. But they [Russian troops] also cover the evidence [of their crimes]: take the mobile crematoria which Russians brought here and which they are using to burn people, to burn their dead bodies.

And despite everything, they [the investigators] are searching and their searches are yielding results. Imagine: so many civilians were killed that despite the fact that they [the Russians] burned [some of the corpses in mobile crematoria], another mass grave has been found in Kyiv Region with the bodies of 900 civilians. 900 people!

No one knows how many people have been killed. There will be consequences, there will be an investigation, then there will be a census. We have to find all these people [killed by the Russian occupation forces] – but we don’t even know how many there are!"

Details: President Zelenskyy added that the Ukrainian government estimates that nearly 500,000 Ukrainians have been illegally deported to Russia.

He insisted that Ukrainian prosecutors and law enforcement officers will find and put to trial all Russian occupation soldiers who are in any way connected to the crimes committed against Ukraine’s civilians. However, he also acknowledged that it is important for Ukraine to get international recognition that Russian troops have indeed committed these crimes and to ensure that Russia carries the historical responsibility for this horrific war.

Background:

• The Ukrainian prosecutor’s office has identified 10 Russian soldiers who tortured and killed Ukrainians in Bucha.
• On 23 April Mayor of Bucha Anatoliy Fedoruk said that 412 civilians killed by the Russian military had been found in mass graves in Bucha.
• Investigators found a total of nearly 1100 bodies of civilians in mass graves in areas of Kyiv Region that had been temporarily occupied by Russian troops.