After the withdrawal of the Russian army, Izum is now in a mass grave, and the United Nations will investigate | Russia-Ukraine war

[Epoch Times, September 16, 2022](Epoch Times reporter Zhang Ting comprehensive report) After Ukraine recaptured the strategic city of Izyum from the Russian army, a large-scale cemetery with about 440 bodies was found. The news once again shocked the world, and the United Nations said it would send monitors to Igyum to investigate.

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry tweeted on Friday (September 16) that Ukrainian authorities had discovered a massive cemetery containing 440 bodies in Izyum, which was recently recaptured from Russian forces.

Ukrainian authorities began recovering bodies on Friday to determine the cause of death.

Cause of death under investigation

The Ukrainian Center for Strategic Communications said on Thursday (September 15) that a new cemetery was found in Izyum, and the bodies buried there were “mostly civilians”.

Associated Press reporters visited the burial site on Thursday and saw numerous graves among pine trees with simple wooden crosses. Most of the tombs are numbered – there are more than four hundred.

It is unclear who the dead were or how they died, but witnesses and a Ukrainian investigator said some were shot and others were killed by artillery fire, landmines or airstrikes.

There is at least one mass grave, marked with the bodies of 17 Ukrainian soldiers.

Oleg Kotenko, an official with the Ukrainian forces tasked with reintegrating the occupied territories, said the mass graves of Ukrainian soldiers may contain more than the 17 bodies mentioned on their markers.

“We haven’t counted, but I think there were more than 25 or even 30 (corpses),” he said. His estimate was based on live video footage posted by Russian soldiers on social media.

Kotenko also said individual graves marked with crosses contained dead civilians. He said he expected the bodies to be exhumed for DNA testing.

Investigators with metal detectors scanned the site for any hidden explosives before the excavation began. Soldiers marked parts of the scene with red and white plastic tape between the trees. Some graves have wreaths on crosses and some have people’s names on them.

The Associated Press said the practice of marking individual graves with wooden crosses differs from some other burial sites discovered earlier in the Russian-Ukrainian war. The locations include some around Kyiv that are being investigated for possible war crimes. In the town of Bucha and elsewhere, after the withdrawal of Russian troops, the bodies were found thrown together and buried unmarked.

Among the hundreds of people buried in individual graves are dozens of adults and children, who were killed by Russian troops in an apartment building, the Associated Press quoted Izyum resident Sergei Gorodko as saying. killed in an air raid.

He said he pulled some of them from the rubble “by hand”.

Sergei Bolvinov, a senior investigator with the Ukrainian police, told British outlet Sky News that some of the people buried were shot, while others were killed by artillery fire, mines or airstrikes .

Reuters reported that some of the bodies had ropes wrapped around their necks. AFP images showed some bodies with their hands tied.

Zelensky: Necessary procedural action has taken place

In a televised address Thursday night, Zelensky said he expected “more information — clear, verifiable information” about the site on Friday.

“The necessary procedural actions have been taken there. We want the world to know what happened, what the Russian occupation led to,” he said.

Zelensky also mentioned other Ukrainian cities. Ukraine says retreating Russian troops have left mass graves of civilians in the cities.

“Bucha, Mariupol, and now, unfortunately, Izum,” he said.

“Russia leaves death everywhere. It must be responsible for it.”

UN to send ombudsman to investigate

A spokesman for the UN Human Rights Office said on Friday that the office plans to send an ombudsman to Izyum.

“Their (supervisors’) goal is to go there and try to gather more information about what might happen,” spokesman Liz Throssell said at a news conference in Geneva, without giving a time. frame.

“Obviously, we’re going to look at whether they (those who lost their lives) were military personnel or civilians, and whether they died as a result of being killed, whether they died from hostilities, or did they die from natural causes, exacerbated by a lack of medical assistance (the situation) ”

Trossel also said that, obviously, any such report would be alarming. And that’s why it’s important to determine the cause of death for these people.

Much of Kharkiv has been recaptured by the Ukrainian army, but the military says they are now being heavily shelled by Russian artillery. “In the past day, the enemy has targeted Kharkiv, Kupyansk and The recently recovered settlements in the Izyum region (Ukrainian forces) were heavily shelled. Residential buildings were destroyed and people were injured.”

Izyum came under heavy Russian artillery fire in April, and the city near the border of the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions became an important hub for Russian forces during the Russian occupation.

Ukrainian troops regained control of the city on Saturday (September 10), dealing a strategic blow to Russia’s military offensive in eastern Ukraine.

Photos released by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry on Friday showed a forested area near Izyum with many crosses on the mound and a larger pit in the forest.

Responsible editor: Lin Yan#