After it was recaptured from Russia, graves in hundreds have been discovered outside Izyum, Ukraine says.
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| Ukraine discovered more than 400 graves in liberated Izyum city. Most of the wooden crosses were marked with numbers. Photo: Reuters via BBC |
Most of the wooden crosses found inside the forest outside the city by the advancing Ukrainian forces were marked with numbers.
Authorities have disclosed they would start exhuming some of the graves on Friday.
It remains unclear what happened to the victims, however, early accounts suggest some may have died from shelling as well as a lack of access to healthcare.
Ukraine’s National Police Service Head, speaking on Friday, said, most of the bodies belonged to civilians.
Although, it is believed soldiers were buried there, none had been discovered so far, Ihor Klymenko told a news conference.
Previously, authorities in Ukraine had disclosed to the BBC that, above 400 bodies were thought to be buried at the site.
The United Nations (UN) is hopeful it would send a monitoring team in the days ahead to the city.
An investigation would possibly be carried out to figure out if the dead were civilians or military personnel alongside the cause of any of the deaths, a spokesperson of the UN human rights office said.
According to BBC:
Izyum, invaded in the early days of the war, was used by Russia as a key military hub to supply its forces from the east.
President Volodymyr Zelensky, in his address, said, the “necessary procedural actions” had started within the area.
He said: “We want the world to know what is really happening and what the Russian occupation has led to. Bucha, Mariupol, now, unfortunately, Izyum… Russia leaves death everywhere.
“And it must be held accountable for that.”
