Serhiy Bolvinov, the chief police investigator for the Kharkiv region, told Sky News that some of the people were killed by shelling and airstrikes. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy likened the discovery to what happened in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kiev, saying in a video clip on Thursday night: “Russia is leaving behind death everywhere and must be held responsible.” “The necessary procedures have already started there. More information – clear, verifiable information – should be available tomorrow,” he said. Ukraine and its allies have accused Russian forces of committing war crimes in Bukha in the early stages of the invasion by Russian forces in February. The affluent town of Bucha, northwest of Kiev, is synonymous with Russian war crimes, where hundreds of bodies have been found. After a month of fighting, Butsa was one of the first places Moscow withdrew to refocus its forces in eastern Ukraine. Bolvinov said forensic investigations would be conducted on each body. “I can say that it is one of the largest burial grounds in a large city in the liberated [areas] … 440 bodies were buried in one place,” he said. “Some died from artillery fire… some died from airstrikes.” Associated Press reporters saw the site Thursday in a forest outside Izium. Among the trees were hundreds of graves with simple wooden crosses, most marked only with numbers. A larger grave bore a sign saying it contained the bodies of 17 Ukrainian soldiers. Investigators with metal detectors were scanning the area for any hidden explosives. Oleg Kotenko, an official in the Ukrainian ministry tasked with the reintegration of occupied territories, said videos posted by Russian soldiers on social media indicated there were likely more than 17 bodies in the grave. “We haven’t counted them yet, but I think it’s over 25 or even 30,” he said. Izium resident Sergei Gorodko said that among the hundreds buried in individual graves were dozens of adults and children killed in a Russian airstrike on an apartment building. He said he pulled some of them out of the rubble “with my own hands.” Thousands of Russian soldiers left Izium over the weekend. There was no immediate public comment from Russia. Dozens of bombed-out apartment buildings in the center of the city of Izium lie abandoned along streets covered in debris from one of the fiercest battles of this war, which has killed at least 1,000 people, according to Ukrainian officials. On Wednesday the city, described as a second Mariupol because of the heavy bombardment it has suffered, was visited by the outside world for the first time since its recapture. Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians or committing war crimes. With Reuters
