Dressed in white protective suits and wearing rubber gloves, Ukrainian emergency workers on Saturday dug up more bodies from a wooded burial site in territory recently recaptured from Russian forces, while townspeople looked for dead relatives.
Ukraine says hundreds are buried at the site discovered this week, including at least 17 Ukrainian servicemen found in a mass grave on Friday and others who may be civilians buried in individual graves marked with flimsy wooden crosses.
The causes of death have not yet been established, although residents say some of the graves near the town of Izium were of people who died in an airstrike. Ukrainian authorities have said at least one of the bodies had tied hands and rope marks on the neck.
Moscow has not commented on the discovery of the graves. It regularly denies committing atrocities in the war or targeting civilians.
Reuters saw workers carefully exhume at least five graves with shovels, while police experts and investigators documented the findings on camera and inspected the bodies on the sandy soil between trunks of pine trees.
Investigators said the condition of the teeth showed some of the people were elderly.
“Exhumations are under way. Their identities are currently not known,” said Roman Kasianenko, a regional prosecutor. He said three bodies dug up on Friday had been identified.
Clutching a neatly written list of names and numbers, resident Volodymyr Kolesnyk stepped between graves looking for relatives he said were killed in an airstrike on an apartment building shortly before the town fell in April, as the invaders swept through the northeastern region of Kharkiv.
Ukraine last week took back dozens of towns and villages in the area in a surprise counterattack.
Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Synehubov on Friday said he had been aware of mass deaths when shells hit a five-story apartment block shortly before the Russian occupation. In May, a Ukrainian military official said more than 40 people died in an attack in the town.
Reuters could not immediately verify details of the attack, or who buried the bodies.
Kolesnyk said he knew his relatives had been taken to the burial site, and were in some of the graves marked with numbers, but that he had not dared visit while the town was under occupation.
He paused before a cross marked with the number 199 and after checking the list, carefully hung a small sign on it bearing the name of Yurii Yakovenko, his cousin.
Cross number 164, he said, was his cousin’s wife. And 174, his cousin’s mother, Kolesnyk’s aunt.
The list was given to him by a local funeral company that dug the graves, he said.
“They buried the bodies in bags, without coffins, without anything. I was not allowed here at first. They (Russians) said it was mined and asked to wait. And there was a lot of them in the woods, so it was scary to come here,” Kolensk told Reuters.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday said officials have found evidence of torture on exhumed bodies, adding that around 10 torture sites have been found across the territory liberated this month.
The head of the Russia-installed administration that abandoned the northeastern area around Izium last week accused Ukrainians of staging atrocities. “I have not heard anything about burials,” Vitaly Ganchev told Rossiya-24 state television.
Reuters could not immediately verify details of the attack, or who buried the bodies.
‘Putin’s media’ has also used the same tactic in Syria and elsewhere, i.e. denied committing atrocities, Putin like most other dictators, especially those that are narcissistically impaired, only wants to be lauded. But maybe some ultranationalist Russians believe that butchering, torturing and raping others deemed enemies is laudable, and tus cheer on their little leader sitting safely behind a big table. Russia cross the border back into sovereign Russian territory, leave Ukraine alone.
PT,do you think writing here is make a difference ,my purpose is too stop the US from continuing funding,this lost cause,the Ukrainian do not have the basics solutions ,but too wage a propoganda war, instead of having a solution for their problem,as long as people enabling of Ukraine,thing are not gonna be resolved
PT,do you think writing here is make a difference ,my purpose is too stop the US from continuing funding,this lost cause,the Ukrainian do not have the basics solutions ,but too wage a propoganda war, instead of having a solution for their problem,as long as people enabling of Ukraine,thing are not gonna be resolved
The lost cause is the Russian invasion of a sovereign Ukraine and the solution is the defeat of the Russian Army. With the right equipment the Ukrainians have demonstrated the ability to defeat the Russians. The US and other western allies have a duty to supply Ukraine those weapons. Sorry you don’t like that but Russia is not going to win this war. Letting Russia win would be no different than when the Brits turned their back to Czechoslovakia and declared “Peace in our time” as the German Army marched into Sudetenland. The lesson is that appeasement of a dictator intent on territorial conquest never buys peace. It only guarantees further conquest and eventual war. Standing up to the Russians by arming the Ukrainians is to prevent a larger NATO war.
as the German Army marched into
Russia all the way up to Moscow’s doorstep.
German military experts were certain the Russians would collapse and surrender.
Alas, the Germans underestimated the resolve of the Russian people, as did Napolean.
The US have no legal obligation toward Ukraine,out constitution say the President of the United States,is obligated to defend the country against all foreign and domestic enemies, Ukraine is not a state
America is a member of NATO. The current situation in Ukraine is a threat to NATO countries. America has an obligation to NATO.
Alas, the Germans underestimated the resolve of the Russian people, as did Napolean.
Just as Russia has with Ukraine (and Afghanistan). It’s always the invaders that underestimate.
Bronco,the only way Ukrainain will win is march to Moscow,other than this will mean more destruction of Ukraine
It’s always the invaders that underestimate.
Is that why the supposed lightening counteroffensive stopped dead in its tracks at the Luhansek border in the north and Kherson in the south?
It’s been days since we heard of territory changing hands.
Zelensky threw all his top forces and $50 billion worth of NATO weapons into one tiny area and was stopped dead in his tracks after 70 km by separatist border guards with light weapons at the Luhansk border.
Alas, the Germans underestimated the resolve of the Russian people, as did Napolean.
putin shouldn’t underestimate the resolve of Russian mothers or soon to be poor oligarchs. He’s in a very precarious position.
India and China are fair weather friends. Dissent in Russia is visibly growing, slowly but it’s there.
Is that why the supposed lightening counteroffensive stopped dead in its tracks at the Luhansek border in the north and Kherson in the south?
No, it’s why Russia failed in Afghanistan and it’s why Russia still hasn’t completed its objectives in an operation that was only going to last 3 days to a week but has now changed to “we’re not in a hurry”. It’s why Russia has lost or sacked so many commanding officers and it’s why the “volunteers” have run off leaving behind all of the Russian equipment.
Yrral, no kidding. Exactly as I stated. It’s always the invaders that underestimate.
German military experts were certain the Russians would collapse and surrender.
A difference between Putin and the German leader at that time is the German leader relied in part on his astrologist to help him make decisions, while Putin relies solely on himself, so far showing once again narcissistically impaired leaders should just stay in their palaces looking at themselves in a mirror or paintings of themselves hanging in every room. But the two are much more alike than they are different, and have attracted similar followers.
Ukraine is not a state
Is the above from Tucker, Alex Jones, or Truth Social, aka really big lies Social?
Yrral
Ukraine is a sovereign country invaded by a nuclear-armed country.
@bronco
the Germans underestimated the resolve of the Russian people
and Putin underestimated the resolve of the Ukrainian people.
This time you’re (Russia) the invading army
have they used Nukes on Ukrainain yet,No
but they have repeatedly threatened the use of them
It’s terrible what Russia has done and continues to do, just terrible.
Who said the counteroffensive was going to be all at once? Ukraine has been pretty strategic with it, waiting for Russian soldiers to make a mistake before striking.
Is that why the supposed lightening counteroffensive stopped dead in its tracks at the Luhansek border in the north and Kherson in the south?
It’s been days since we heard of territory changing hands.
What do you guys make of the firefights in Kherson City?
Russia all the way up to Moscow’s doorstep.
German military experts were certain the Russians would collapse and surrender.
Alas, the Germans underestimated the resolve of the Russian people, as did Napolean.
Yes, trying to capture Moscow is a dangerous proposition for any army. Good safety tip for the Ukrainian High Command there.
Its amusing that the Putin fanboys are having to frame Russia’s war effort in terms of being able to hold onto Moscow one the one hand, while continuing to insist the war is going great for them on the other.
Yrral
then why does the United States of America send its troops into foreign wars and battles? I think since 1945, the US has made about 20 wars.
wallaceToday 09:28 am JST
Yrral
then why does the United States of America send its troops into foreign wars and battles? I think since 1945, the US has made about 20 wars.
And before that, the US went to war to save the UK, among many other countries.
Twice.
Some people here always forget that Russia attacked a sovereign state in a “3 day limited operation”.
Ukrainians are defending their homeland, the way anyone else would.
And back to the topic: this massgrave with more than 400 bodies murdered by Russian aggressors is the first one of many others to come. And many more will probably not be discovered for a very long time. Let me remind you, this one massgrave “contains” not “just” troops but also civilians, with their hands tied behind their backs, cold-blooded murdered after torture as is confirmed by various people independently!
And many more will probably not be discovered for a very long time.
I would imagine that the discoveries yet to come in Mariupol will be especially horrific and on a scale not seen in a long time.
What do you guys make of the firefights in Kherson City?
Somebody must have left a washing machine unattended and the Russians are fighting each other for it.
And before that, the US went to war to save the UK, among many other countries.
Twice.
The UK helped the US in the Pacific War. Then the Korean War. The Iraq War. The Afghanistan War. The Syria War.
WW2 started in 1939. The United States did not enter the war until December 1941. Two years later.
When the Black American troops arrived in the UK they were treated like the heroes they were. To the disgust of the white troops.
wallaceToday 09:50 am JST
The UK helped the US in the Pacific War.
You mean the other way around.
Then the Korean War. The Iraq War. The Afghanistan War. The Syria War.
Uk didn’t enter the Korean War.
WW2 started in 1939. The United States did not enter the war until December 1941. Two years later.
Riiiiight. Maybe because the war started in Europe?
When the Black American troops arrived in the UK they were treated like the heroes they were. To the disgust of the white troops.
Weird piece of info there.
Lots if UK women treated white US troops like heroes. To the disgust of the UK troops.
Uk didn’t enter the Korean War.
Um, yes in fact they did. I have no idea why this is being discussed in this context to begin with, but this is just incorrect.
Ukraine propaganda machine grinds on. Not many poster here know Ukraine has around 2800 lobbyists in Washington, five times more than any other country in the whole world.
Ukraine propaganda machine grinds on. Not many poster here know Ukraine has around 2800 lobbyists in Washington, five times more than any other country in the whole world.
Did the lobbyists dig those graves and bury those bodies? Who do you think did it, Rodders?
And before that, the US went to war to save the UK, among many other countries.
incorrect
Uk didn’t enter the Korean War.
They did. And suffered significant casualties.
Ukraine propaganda machine grinds on. Not many poster here know Ukraine has around 2800 lobbyists in Washington, five times more than any other country in the whole world.
And the Russians seem to employ so many that they even have the time to even flood small news websites in Japan with Russian disinformation.
My quick Google search suggests there are only 24 Ukrainian lobbyists in Washington, not 2800.
Before February, Russia massively outspent Ukraine on lobbying in Washington.
Since February Russia has become so toxic that even people who lobby the US Congress for a living won’t deal with them.
Read that last sentence again, slowly, and let it sink in.
There’s a bull coming due for what the Russians did in Ukraine. Not today, maybe not this decade. But there’s a penalty for this. It’s going to be paid.
“bill coming due”
damnit….
“bill coming due”
damnit….
Its OK, the bill for a lot of their bull really is coming due.
The reality of the situation is that Zelensky launched a massive 6 pronged offensive wielding his best troops and billions in NATO weapons.
5 of those 6 failed miserably and resulted in massive losses for Zelensky.
The one in the north only moved 70 km because the Russian side ordered a withdrawal because that area is difficult to defend and the Russians were outnumbered 8 to 1.
There were no major battles, Zelensky’s army just entered areas that Russian tactically withdrew from.
The Russian command ordered that the Luhansk border remain defended.
Zelensky’s best army with $50 billion in weapons was stopped right at that border.
The offensive has lost momentum, exposed Zelensky’s troops in open areas, used up massive amounts of precision weapons and allowed the Russians to regroup in more defensible areas.
The Russian army’s best friend… winter is coming. The Russians have unlimited amounts of fuel and gas and can strike any target at will.
The Russians will merely sit and wait till Europeans come begging for energy and strike a deal recognizing Crimea and the Donbass as Russian territory.
Bronco
The one in the north only moved 70 km because the Russian side ordered a withdrawal because that area is difficult to defend and the Russians were outnumbered 8 to 1.
There were no major battles, Zelensky’s army just entered areas that Russian tactically withdrew from.
The Russian command ordered that the Luhansk border remain defended.
The amount of copium here is immense.
A tactical withdrawal doesn’t leave live ammo dumps and expensive tanks and equipment behind.
That was the Russian position as well until a few days ago when even Russia are calling it a defeat.
5 of those 6 failed miserably and resulted in massive losses for Zelensky.
If desperate Russian propagandists say it it must be true!
The one in the north only moved 70 km because the Russian side ordered a withdrawal
LOL, that is a good one. Better write that excuse down, you’ll likely be needing it again.
The Russian command ordered that the Luhansk border remain defended.
Zelensky’s best army with $50 billion in weapons was stopped right at that border.
Oh look, the Ukrainians advanced to the East bank of the Olskil river yesterday, so much for that “The Ukrainians offensive has been halted” fairytale.
The Russian army’s best friend… winter is coming.
You do realize that winter is only the friend of an army that is in retreat, right? Because it makes it harder for their adversary to chase them.
This is what you are bragging about, just to be clear.
and can strike any target at will.
So long as that target is as big as a barn, not too far away and doesn’t move.
The Russians will merely sit and wait till Europeans come begging for energy and strike a deal recognizing Crimea and the Donbass as Russian territory.
This is so pathetic I almost feel sorry for you if you actually believe in it.
See the legacy of what ‘3 days to a week’ has done. And here’s evidence of some serious war crimes. Putin needs to remember what happened to Slobodan Milosevic, the other ex-Yugoslavian war criminals, Saddam Hussein, the Rwandan fascist Hutu supremacists and other war criminal dirtbags of the past 30 or so years.
He’s got blood on his hands and mud on his face. A big disgrace.
painkiller
Uk didn’t enter the Korean War.
Shameful!
My own family and community fought in the Korean War.
Nearly 81,000 British combat troops saw action during the war in Korea, they came from both the regular army and national servicemen. The war saw heavy casualties, 1,100 British soldiers were killed. This was the second largest international contribution after that of the United States in support of the UN response.
There were Commonwealth troops from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and India.
korea-remembering-the-uks-contribution-70-years-after-the-outbreak-of-a-forgotten-war-how-was-the-uk-involved
When the Black American troops arrived in the UK they were treated like the heroes they were. To the disgust of the white troops.
A weird piece of info there.
Lots if UK women treated white US troops like heroes. To the disgust of the UK troops.
What was weird for the British were American segregation. They refused to accept it. Not many Americans know this story.
they-treated-us-royally-the-experiences-of-black-americans-in-britain-during-the-second-world-war
wallaceToday 12:54 pm JST
Shameful!
My own family and community fought in the Korean War.
Nearly 81,000 British combat troops saw action during the war in Korea,
They didn’t fight for the UK. They fought as part of the United Nations Command.
What was weird for the British were American segregation. They refused to accept it. Not many Americans know this story.
Sounds really weird since there was legalized segregation in the UK until 1965.
No Bronco,
the Russian side ordered a withdrawal
They didn’t order a withdrawl, they got their arses kicked and fled as fast as they were able to run.
Even left those precious washing machines and other “useful stuff” (for Ukrainian troops) behind.
And winter Russia’s best friend? Got my doubts here, too.
Not enough cold weather gear, not enough track or wheel vehicles and always under attack by Ukrainians … there will be more “good will gestures” coming!
Again, all this doesn’t reflect the topic of this article, just to stay with the facts!
painkiller
wallace
Shameful!
My own family and community fought in the Korean War.
Nearly 81,000 British combat troops saw action during the war in Korea,
They didn’t fight for the UK. They fought as part of the United Nations Command.
I never said they did. The Korean War was really an America War, and the UK helped out America. The Americans were in charge.
What was weird for the British were American segregation. They refused to accept it. Not many Americans know this story.
Sounds really weird since there was legalized segregation in the UK until 1965.
There was never legalized segregation in the UK. You are confused.
There were no British laws requiring racial segregation, but until 1965, there were no laws prohibiting racial segregation either.
Race Relations Act 1965 – UK Parliament
https://www.parliament.uk › relationships › collections1
The Act banned racial discrimination in public places and made the promotion of hatred on the grounds of ‘colour, race, or ethnic or national origins’ an offence.
https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/private-lives/relationships/collections1/race-relations-act-1965/race-relations-act-1965/
In America, Jim Crow laws were a collection of state and local statutes that legalized racial segregation, which existed for about 100 years, from the post-Civil War era until 1968.
painkiller
there was never any segregation in the UK. All people used the same schools, transport, and services. There were no slaves in the UK.
The UK Bill of Rights 1689
10 Russian torture chambers found in liberated Kharkiv region
https://www.yahoo.com/news/10-russian-torture-chambers-found-095108088.html
That’s what the Russian serf army is good for, bombing houses and killing civilians. They sure are afraid of Mad Vlad Putin though, and will do whatever he says. That’s how a terrorist dictatorship works. Russia does not fight terrorists: It pays them for their service. It raises its children to become terrorists. It incites its citizens to terrorism. Regardless of where they are involved ― in the official armed forces, in the unofficial ranks of Wagner, in the FSB, the GRU, Gazprom, or Rosatom ― they all perform the same function. Their overarching objective is to sow terror and hatred, murder and threaten, coerce and blackmail. They are told all this is for the glory of the Russian Land, Terra Russia.
How long before Russia is designated as a terrorist state?