Ukraine says 447 bodies exhumed at Izium, 30 with 'signs of torture'

Ukraine says 447 bodies exhumed at Izium, 30 with 'signs of torture'
September 24, 2022, 7:40 am

Ukrainian officials have said Friday (Sep 23) that 447 bodies had been exhumed from a mass burial site near the eastern city of Izium, which was recaptured from Russian forces - Photo. Pravda

Ukrainian officials have said Friday (Sep 23) that 447 bodies had been exhumed from a mass burial site near the eastern city of Izium, which was recaptured from Russian forces.

Ihor Klymenko, Head of the National Police of Ukraine, said on Facebook: "The exhumation of bodies at the mass burial site in Izium has been completed. The work took place over the course of the past week, without breaks.

A total of 447 bodies were exhumed from the graves. Among them, there are 215 women, 194 men, 5 children and 22 military personnel. In addition, remains of 11 other persons have been exhumed, but their sex could not be established."

Oleh Syniehubov, head of Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration, said on Telegram that most of the exhumed bodies have signs of violent death, and 30 have torture marks. There are bodies with ropes around their necks, with bound hands, with broken limbs, and with gunshot wounds. Several men have amputated genitalia.

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Serhii Panteleiev, First Deputy Chief of the Main Investigative Department of the National Police, said that at the time of his report, 427 bodies of the dead had been unearthed: 202 were women, 189 were men, and five were children.

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He added that 11 bodies were so mutilated that police could not even determine their gender; however, forensic experts will handle this.

Ukraine recaptured Izium and other towns in the east this month, crippling Kremlin supply routes and bringing fresh claims of Russian atrocities with the discovery of hundreds of graves - some containing multiple bodies.

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