The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Some of the bodies found in the Izium mass grave have "signs of torture"

2022-09-17T17:43:44.891Z


Ukrainian authorities said more than 400 bodies were found in a wooded area on the outskirts of the city Izium recaptured from Russian troops. Most belonged to civilians.


A look at the mass graves in Izium, recently liberated from the Russians 2:53

(CNN Spanish)

-- Not even the heavy rains on Friday afternoon could erase the smell of death that invades the Izium pine forest, while Ukrainian investigators made their way through the huge mass grave found in the city of the eastern Ukraine after its recapture from Russian forces.

Ukraine's Defense Ministry reported that at least 440 "unmarked" graves were found in the city in recent days.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that some of the bodies found in Izium showed "signs of torture", holding Russia responsible for what he called "cruelty and terrorism".

Zelensky published a photograph of the exhumation of the bodies in the mass grave near the city of Izium.

In a text that accompanies the image shared on his Telegram channel, the president wrote: “The whole world should see this.

A world in which cruelty and terrorism should not fit.

But all this is there.

And its name is Russia.

Izium came under heavy attack by Russian artillery in April.

The city, which is located near the border between the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, became an important center for the invading army during five months of occupation.

But Ukrainian forces regained control of the city on Saturday, dealing a strategic blow to Russia's military assault in the east.

Exclusive: CNN enters the newly liberated Izium in Ukraine 3:14

When CNN arrived at the mass grave site Friday afternoon, officials were transporting body bags, including one that appeared to contain something very small, in a refrigerated truck.

advertising

Most of the graves are individual with wooden crosses placed on top of the earthen mounds.

Some have handwritten names and numbers.

One of them had the number 398 written on it. Another had the name of an 82-year-old man.

An official who was at the scene told CNN that investigations have yet to determine when those people died.

Further down in the woods is what appears to be an old military position, with tank pits dug deep into the ground. 

A police officer who was at the scene told CNN that the place is a mass grave where 17 bodies were found.

"There are civilian bodies here and later military bodies," Igor Garmash, an investigator on the scene, said of the specific part of the site he was examining, pointing to a nearby location.

"More than 20 bodies have been examined and sent for further investigation," he told CNN.

Ukraine's Center for Strategic Communications said on Thursday that some of the graves discovered in Izium were "fresh" and that the bodies buried there were "mostly civilians".

Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian parliament's commissioner for human rights, said in a video statement that "there is a whole family right next to me... This is a young family... the father was born in 1988, the wife was born in 1991 , their little daughter was born in 2016."

The official added that local people told investigators that the family had been killed in a Russian airstrike.

"We also looked at the mass burial of servicemen from the Ukrainian army. The way they were buried, there is evidence that their hands were tied and that they were killed at close range," Lubinets said.

An Izium resident who lives across the street from the mass burial site told CNN that the Russians first targeted a nearby city cemetery with an airstrike and then moved on.

A Ukrainian soldier walks in Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, on September 13.

(Kostyantyn Liberov/AP)

“They brought their special machines.

They dug some trenches for their vehicles.

We just heard how they were destroying the forest," Nadezhda Kalinichenko told CNN.

She said she tried not to go out during the time the city was under Russian occupation because she was too scared.

"When they left, I don't know if there was a fight or not. We just heard a lot of heavy trucks at night a week ago," she said. 

"Brutal and bloody horror"

During a speech Thursday, Zelensky said Russia must be held accountable for deaths there and in other cities where large numbers of bodies were found.

"Bucha, Mariupol and now, unfortunately, Izium... Russia leaves death everywhere. And it must be held accountable for that. The world must hold Russia accountable for this war. We will do everything to make that happen," he added.

Kharkiv region governor Oleh Syniehubov said "the scale of the crimes committed by the invaders in Izium is enormous. This is bloody and brutal terror."

Syniehubov said that "450 bodies of civilians with traces of violent death and torture were buried in a forest area. It is difficult to imagine such a thing in the 21st century, but now it is a tragic reality in Izium."

Among the exhumed bodies, Syniehubov added on Friday, "99% showed signs of violent death."

A Ukrainian police officer walks through the mass grave found in a forest on the outskirts of Izyum, Ukraine, on September 16, 2022. -(Credit: SERGEY BOBOK / AFP)

“There are several bodies with their hands tied behind their backs, and one person was buried with a rope around his neck.

Obviously, these people were tortured and executed.

There are also children among the victims,” she said.

Meanwhile, Oleh Kotenko, Ukraine's commissioner for missing persons, noted in a Telegram post that search operations for the remains of "fallen heroes" were being carried out cautiously throughout the region.

"The biggest problem is that some areas are still mined. Despite this, we continue to work, because we have to return every hero home so that the families can honor the memory of the soldiers who died for Ukraine in a dignified way as soon as possible." possible," said Kotenko.

Zelensky visited Izium on Wednesday and told reporters he was "shocked" by the number of "destroyed buildings" and "killed people" following the Russian occupation.

In his late-night speech on Friday, Zelensky said the exhumation of bodies at the mass grave site was continuing and it was still "too early to talk about the total number of people buried there."

Individual graves are seen throughout the site at Izium.

He added that investigations are being carried out in all areas of the country that had been recaptured from Russian forces and that a number of civilians, including foreigners, who had been held captive in occupied cities and towns, had been found alive.

Among the foreigners rescued were seven Sri Lankan students, he said.

They were studying at the Kupyansk Medical College, but were captured by Russian soldiers in March and held in a cellar.

"Only now, after the liberation of the Kharkiv region, these people have been rescued and are receiving proper medical care," Zelensky reported.

Body bags are taken to refrigerated containers after exhumation in the Izium mass grave.

A United Nations source told CNN that a team from the UN Human Rights monitoring agency (OCHR) would go to and around Izium as soon as possible.

After that, it could be the turn of a war crimes investigation team, the same source said.

But his specific fate is unknown at this time.

Moscow used Izium as its launch pad for attacks south into the Donetsk and Kupyansk region, some 48 kilometers (30 mi) north of Izium, and as a rail hub for resupplying its forces.

Zelensky also thanked foreign governments for sending investigators and prosecutors to address alleged human rights abuses by the occupying forces in Ukraine.

Ukrainian forces have been on a sustained military offensive, particularly in the northeastern and southern regions of the country.

Zelensky said on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces had liberated 8,000 square kilometers of territory so far this month, and that about half of that area is still in the process of "stabilization."

mass graveRussian NewsTorture

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2022-09-17

You may like

News/Politics 2024-02-12T18:35:53.163Z

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.