Mass graves discovered in Ukraine could be 'evidence of war crimes', according to President Zelenskyy

On Friday, Sep. 16 in an interview for Reuters,President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of torture and war crimes.

The ‘bloody soap opera’ continues

Ukraine recently unearthed gruesome discoveries in the liberated settlements in the Kharkiv region. President Zelenskyy compared the newfound atrocities in the northeast ‘to the bloody soap opera after Bucha’ referencing the mass graves found in the city of Bucha during the Russian campaign to capture the capital city of Kyiv.

Back in April, numerous global media including France24 published the shocking findings of the Ukrainian authorities who revealed to the world mass graves in the city of Bucha, apparently left behind by retreating Russian troops. This was already an indication of the crimes allegedly committed by Russian forces in Ukraine.

Hundreds of mass graves found on the outskirts of the city of Izium

This past weekend, Ukrainian authorities invited journalists to the outskirts of the city of Izium to report on recent gruesome discoveries. According to the reported description of the site in the New York Times, they were ‘in a pine forest full of graves’.

Ukrainian authorities revealed to international journalists about 445 individual graves containing the bodies of mothers, children, and the elderly, but also one mass grave where soldiers seem to have been buried.

The city of Izium was subject to heavy artillery fire before it was captured by Russian forces in March. Thereafter the city was used to stage attacks on the surrounding Ukrainian territory and positions. Another New York Timesreport further reveals details about the situation inside the city by citing residents of Izium who describe the seven months of the Russian occupation as ‘months of terror’.

On Friday, Ukrainian authorities invited journalists to witness the exhumation process and raise awareness about the Russian's alleged crimes. One police officer said:

For us, it shows the Russians made a crime, and not only a crime, but genocide of the Ukrainian population. In this place, we see women and children.

Sources used:

- Reuters: ‘Zelenskiy accuses Russia of war crimes, sees no early end to war’

- France24: ‘Ukraine begins excavation of Bucha mass grave’

- New York Times: ‘Here are my neighbors and friends’: In a pine forest full of graves, Ukraine points to atrocities’

- New York Times: ‘Residents describe Russia’s deadly siege of Izium and months of terror that followed’

Read more:

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