338 bodies exhumed in Izium
IRYNA BALACHUK – WEDNESDAY, 21 SEPTEMBER 2022, 22:36
As of the evening of 21 September, bodies of 320 civilians and 18 soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been exhumed at the burial site in Izium, which was established during the Russian occupation of the city.
Source: Suspilne, citing Oleksandr Filchakov, Prosecutor in Kharkiv Oblast, and Stepan Maselskyi, Head of the District Administration
Quote from Filchakov: "A large number of the exhumed bodies have explosives and blast injuries, many also have numerous bone fractures and signs of torture."
Details: Filchakov recalled that a total of 445 graves were found at the burial site. Two to four people are buried together in some of them.
Exhumation works are set to be completed by the end of 23 September. Exhumation experts will then continue working at other sites [in Kharkiv Oblast]. At least three to five other burial sites have been found.
Maselskyi said that thousands of people could have been killed in Izium district during the Russian occupation.
He said that bodies buried near entrances to apartment buildings and along flower beds and other patches of greenery are being found every day.
The head of the district administration also said that local residents had to bury many of their dead themselves, especially those who were killed early on as a result of Russian airstrikes and artillery attacks.
Background:
- Russian forces withdrew from Izium on 10 September, leaving behind much of their military equipment.
- On 15 September, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine said that mass burial sites had been found in the city of Izium following its liberation.
- As of 19 September, 146 bodies had been exhumed from a mass burial site in Izium, including women and children. Russian occupiers tortured people at a local police station and at other sites.
- Law enforcement officers have found bodies of men with their hands tied behind their backs, their jaws broken, their genitals cut off and other signs of torture and abuse.
- CNN has reported that a team from the UN’s human rights monitoring agency, the OHCHR, would be going to Izium and areas around it as soon as possible.
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