In the forest outside Izium, north-west Ukraine, simple wooden crosses stand in a row. There are around 200 crosses in total. Most of them have no name, just a number. The BBC writes. Altogether there will be 445 graves in the forest. There are mostly individual graves, but according to the news agency, there is a mass grave with a sign stating that 17 Ukrainian soldiers were buried. The improvised cemetery was discovered after the Russians retreated from the area at the weekend. Ukrainian soldiers stand guard at some of the bodies that have been dug up outside Izium. Some of the dead were found with ropes around their tails and tied hands. Photo: GLEB GARANICH / Reuters Rope around the neck Izium is located in northeastern Ukraine, not far from the border with Russia. For over five months, the area was controlled by Russian soldiers. After clearing the area of landmines, Ukrainian soldiers have begun examining the graves. According to the Ukrainian authorities, most of the people found in the graves are civilians. Journalists from Reuters say they have seen several dead with ropes around their necks and tied hands. – Have to wait a bit Researcher Tor Bukkvoll at the Norwegian Defense Research Institute. Photo: FFI Researcher Tor Bukkvoll at the Norwegian Defense Research Institute (FFI) says that you have to wait a bit before you can say for sure what happened to the dead. He points out that Izium is a city with almost 50,000 inhabitants and that there was probably resistance to the Russians during the occupation. – We know that the Russians have been extremely concerned with putting down resistance in the areas they have occupied. So it seems as if the accusations that Russia is behind it may be true, says Bukkvoll. Oleg Kotenko, who heads Ukraine’s Commission for Missing Persons, films a grave where a Ukrainian soldier is buried outside Izium. Photo: Evgeniy Maloletka / AP Ten torture centers Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj says on Friday afternoon that there are whole families among those buried. He also says that some of the buried bear traces of torture. The Ukrainian police chief said earlier today that at least ten places where people have been tortured were found in the Kharkiv region. Two of these torture centers are to be in the town of Balaklija. So far, the allegations of torture centers have not been confirmed by independent sources. Worst since the Balkan wars The graves outside Izium are the largest collection of such graves in one place since the wars in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Now the Ukrainian authorities and the UN will investigate what has happened. – Our colleagues in Ukraine are following up on these accusations. They aim to organize a monitoring visit to Izium to determine the circumstances surrounding the death of these individuals. This is what the UN office’s spokeswoman Elizabeth Throssell says on Friday.
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Murdered at Izium found with rope around neck and hands tied – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
