and September 16, 2022 at 9:16 pm EDT Military and police investigators begin exhuming a mass grave in Izyum, Ukraine. (Wojciech Grzedzinski/For The Washington Post) IZYUM, Ukraine — Russian forces terrorized residents during their six-month occupation of Izyum, a strategic hub in northeastern Ukraine, with witnesses and victims this week recounting torture, killings and enforced disappearances by soldiers. And as witnesses testified, Ukrainian officials now back in control of the city worked to uncover evidence of these potential war crimes. Investigators on Friday began exhuming the bodies of more than 400 civilians buried in a makeshift cemetery and 17 Ukrainian soldiers buried in a mass grave at the same site. The area is located in a forest just outside of Izyum, it had been used as a Russian military post. Officials said they quickly found signs of torture on some of the bodies. At least one had a rope around his neck, they said. “Bucha, Mariupol, now, unfortunately, Izyum,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday, naming other places where Russian occupation forces have inflicted widespread violence on civilians. “Russia leaves death everywhere.” About 100 researchers stoically dug up the graves – each with a simple wooden cross and a number – and took notes on the state of the decomposing bodies, counting them and looking for identification. The stench of death filled the air and gunfire echoed through the forest as Ukrainian forces demined a nearby area. Several researchers in white overalls and gloves stood in the large pit where the mass grave of the soldiers was discovered. They put each body in a white plastic bag and then carried the bags to flat ground nearby. A worker then unzipped each bag to carefully examine its contents. The identities of the soldiers were unknown — their faces were so damaged or weathered that they were no longer recognizable. The clothing was searched for any clues to names. In one man’s pockets, the worker found only nasal spray and medication. Another soldier brought a silver mobile phone, a wall socket, a metal spoon, headphones and two painkillers. The investigator used the man’s military fleece to wipe the phone’s screen and then attempted to turn it on before placing it inside a small bag for further examination. In the next body bag, he found a man whose left leg was crumpled up under his left arm. He was shirtless and covered in sand, wearing two yellow and blue bracelets on his left wrist. Slowly, the researcher brushed away the sand to reveal several tattoos that could help identify the soldier, including one on his left arm: the name “Alina” with small hearts dotted around it. The evidence uncovered at the burial site is part of a much larger story of horror that has unfolded in this city since Russian forces took control in March. Despite a sense of optimism over Ukraine’s recent victories in reclaiming territory, civilians dealing with the aftermath of Russian occupation are still reeling from what they have endured. Some struggle to believe that peace will prevail in their city. About 50 people are still sleeping in the basement of a kindergarten. Some are so afraid of another attack that they refuse to go home even during the day, instead cooking on the outdoor playground. In March, about 200 people sought safety there, sheltering in a space so cramped that “some people would have to sleep sitting up,” said Anna Kobetz, 38. An elderly man was killed when the courtyard was bombed. Even now, loud noises can send kids sprinting back to the basement. Kobets’ husband, Vitaliy Kaskov, 39, was among those staying at the kindergarten at the start of the war. As the Russians advanced on Izyum, the ex-soldier buried his weapon near the school to hide it from the enemy. He feared that as they scoured the city for collaborators, his presence could put other lives at risk. Finally, Kaskov decided to hide elsewhere. When he returned on April 20, Kobets said, he was escorted by Russian soldiers who had beaten him so badly that he had huge gashes on his skull and could only open his eyes by turning his head back. The soldiers fired into the air and into the ground. Kaskov showed the soldiers where he had buried his gun, and they took him and brought his wife in for questioning, covering her head with a bag. For five hours, she said, Russian soldiers tortured her psychologically, saying they were keeping her father in another room and would beat him if he didn’t give them information about collaborators. Eventually they sent her back to kindergarten. Her mother later walked around town asking Russian soldiers and officials where her son-in-law had gone. He finally heard that he was alive but as a prisoner of war in the Belgorod region of Russia. The family could not confirm that, Kobets said. Nor has Kaskov been seen or heard from since the day troops took him from the kindergarten in mid-April. Residents of the area said on Friday that many people were missing under similar circumstances, just one reason why they feared any interaction with the troops. There were other reasons to be afraid. One woman, whom the Washington Post is not naming out of concern for her safety, said three soldiers broke into her home in March and raped her for three hours. “They were drunk and they had these weird things [drugged] eyes,” he said. “Then blood was pouring out of me. I couldn’t leave my house for a week.” She tried to protect her daughters, aged 15 and 22, from the same fate. But desperate for money, the sisters went out one day to look for work as cleaners, she said. Russian soldiers brought the younger man back home — alone. “I don’t know where she is,” the mother said Friday, crying for her oldest daughter. “I do not know!” Another group of soldiers insisted on squatting in the same house where she and several other people lived, forcing the Ukrainians to sleep on the floor of a single room. For three days, they were not allowed to go to the toilet, he said. She was only fed a spoonful of porridge, she said, and she was so hungry her head was spinning. Since Russian forces left the city about a week ago, aid workers have been distributing food aid to civilians. But many survive only on what little they can scrape together. Viktor Boyaritsev, 68, picked up a box of food supplies from a flyer on his block Friday — his first aid in months. “Hurry hurry!” his neighbors shouted as others ran down the street hoping to get a package. Boyarinchev wept as he described how his wife died of treatable heart disease because they couldn’t get the medicine she needed. Fearing she would die in the bombing if he buried her himself, he handed her over to a local funeral home who sent him a photo of her body and a number on the cross they erected on the grave. He still tends the roses his wife planted before she died. With no heat and falling temperatures, he hugs his two cats for warmth – but worries this winter could be as bad as the last. Finding creative ways to eat and stay warm is how civilians say they survived the occupation. An elderly resident, who gave his name only as Mykola, has been living with an unexploded rocket in his water pump well since April. He was scared at first, he said. But it is the only place where it can collect water. “So I just got used to it,” he said. However, this rocket was the least of his problems. “There were planes dropping bombs. It’s good that I survived every second,” he said. He built a wood stove to heat his home and has been collecting wood at former Russian checkpoints ever since, carrying huge logs on the back of his bicycle. Without electricity or gas, the wood will help with cooking and stay warm as the weather cools in the coming months. On Friday, a cold storm set in several hours after the excavation began. The dirt they dug from the graves began to turn to mud. The rain covered the plastic bags and the signs written on the side began to run. Workers stopped to put on ponchos – then went back to work. There were still more bodies to be found. Whitney Shefte and Serhii Mukaieliants contributed to this report.

War in Ukraine: What you need to know

The last: Grain shipments from Ukraine are being accelerated under the agreement reached by Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations in July. Russia’s blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports had sent food prices skyrocketing and raised fears of more famine in the Middle East and Africa. At least 18 ships, including cargoes of wheat, corn and sunflower oil, have departed. The battle: The conflict on the ground continues as Russia uses its heavy artillery advantage to pound Ukrainian forces, which have at times managed to put up stiff resistance. In the south, Ukraine’s hopes rest on liberating the Russian-held region of Kherson, and eventually Crimea, which Russia seized in 2014. Fears of a disaster at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant persist as both sides accuse each other of they bomb. The weapons: Western arms supplies are helping Ukraine slow Russian advances. US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Missile Systems (HIMARS) allow Ukrainian forces to strike further behind Russian lines against Russian artillery. Russia has used a range of weapons against Ukraine, some of which have drawn the attention and concern of analysts. Photos: Washington Post photographers have been on the ground since the start of the war — here are some of their strongest works. How you can help: Here are ways those in the US can help support the Ukrainian people as well as the donations people have made around the world. Read his full coverage Russia-Ukraine crisis. Are you on Telegram? Subscribe to our channel for updates and…