Ukraine Inspects Mass Graves in Retaken City
Hundreds of graves found in liberated Izyum city - officials
Ukraine says hundreds of graves have been found outside Izyum, days after it was re-taken from Russia.
Wooden crosses, most of them marked with numbers, were discovered in a forest outside the city by advancing Ukrainian forces.
Authorities said they would start exhuming some of the graves on Friday.
It is not yet clear what happened to the victims, but early accounts suggest some may have died from shelling and a lack of access to healthcare.
Speaking on Friday, the head of Ukraine's national police service said most of the bodies belonged to civilians.
Zelensky says 'mass burial sites' found in recently liberated city
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that a "mass burial site" has been found in the recently liberated city of Izium in eastern Ukraine.
Zelensky said more details about the mass graves will be made available on Friday. The Associated Press reported on Thursday that the mass burial site was located in a forest near Izium, marked by hundreds of wooden crosses.
"A mass burial site was found in Izium, Kharkiv region," Zelensky said in his nightly address on Thursday.
Ukraine combs mass burial site, says signs of torture found
Ukrainian authorities unearthed bodies, some they said bore hallmarks of torture, from a mass burial site Friday in an area recently recaptured from Russian forces. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cited the site as an example of “what the Russian occupation has led to.”
Digging in the rain, workers hauled body after body out of the sandy soil in a pine forest near Izium that police said contained 445 graves. Protected by full body suits and rubber gloves, they gently felt through the decomposing remains of their clothing, seemingly looking for things that might identify them.