Volodymyr Zelenskiy has accused Russia of “leaving death everywhere” after Ukrainian authorities said they had found a mass grave in a forest in the north-eastern city of Izium containing more than 440 bodies.
Ukraine’s president likened the find, in an area recaptured this week from Russian forces, to the previous mass killings of civilians in the cities of Bucha, outside Kyiv, and Mariupol.
Speaking in a video address on Thursday night, Zelenskiy called on the world to “hold Russia to real account for this war”.
“Russia leaves death everywhere and it must be held responsible for that,” he declared. “The necessary procedures have already begun [in Izium]”.
Video from Izium showed a sandy pine forest dotted with graves. Wooden crosses marked the locations. One handwritten sign read: “Ukraine armed forces, 17 people, Izium city, [taken] from morgue.” A few listed numbers – 345, 347, 444. Others had no inscriptions.
Serhiy Bolvinov, the chief police investigator for Kharkiv region, told Sky News some of the people had died as a result of shelling and airstrikes. He said forensic investigations would be carried out on every grave. A process of mass exhumations would begin shortly.
“I can say it is one of the largest burial sites in a big town in liberated [areas] … 440 bodies were buried in one place,” he said.
