Not enough room in morgue: how bodies from Bucha are identified and collected

Yana Osadcha, Journalist

The identification of bodies of Bucha residents who were tortured and killed by the Russian occupying forces, is ongoing.

The Ukrainskyy Svidok (Ukrainian Witness) explains the procedure.

The local morgue is overwhelmed, so the bodies are transported elsewhere in refrigerated vehicles. A notice on the door says, "Do not unload bodies brought here."

"Relatives assemble near the morgue. They have been trying to find their loved ones for the past several weeks. A police officer opens the body bag, takes out the accompanying documents and reads from them. All of that is recorded, then a tag is attached," – says Maksym, a volunteer.

According to another volunteer, Editor-in-Chief of the online publication "Babel" Yevhen Spirin, not all bodies exhumed or found in Bucha have been brought here.  

Most of the bodies can no longer be identified.

"We will collect DNA samples, because too many people have been unable to recognise their dead.

"The killings began in mid-March 2022. Now, it is May. That’s why people will submit samples and we will compare them to the DNA samples of the bodies,"– says Spirin.

A female volunteer says people who are looking for relatives but are unable to visit the site can appeal to the prosecutor’s office.

Relatives can mail a hair with the root, so that their DNA can be compared to that of the dead person.

Local resident Natalia is looking for her son at the Bucha morgue. She says he has been missing since 3 March.

"I went to the military, to the police, to the Administrative Services Centre. I even attended an exhumation behind the church. Our entire family still hopes he might be alive," says the woman.

Background: the occupation of Bucha by Russian troops lasted some 33 days. The occupiers entered the town in the morning of 27 February 2022, and left on the night of 31 March.