Izium (Ukraine): Ukrainian authorities were expected to begin recovering bodies on Friday from a newly found mass burial site in a forest recaptured from Russian forces, a delicate task that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said would help show the world "what the Russian occupation has led to.
The burial site, containing hundreds of graves, was discovered close to Izium after a rapid counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces liberated the northeastern city and other swaths of the Kharkiv region, breaking what was largely becoming a military stalemate in the nearly seven-month war.
To keep the offensive going, the Biden administration announced another USD 600 million package of military aid on Thursday for Ukraine, including more of the weaponry that has helped its troops seize momentum.
Associated Press journalists who visited the burial site Thursday counted hundreds of graves amid the trees, marked with simple wooden crosses most of them numbered, up to 400 and beyond.
There was also at least one mass grave, with a marker saying it contained the bodies of 17 Ukrainian soldiers.
In his nightly televised address on Thursday, Zelenskyy said more information clear, verifiable information about the burial site is expected on Friday.
The necessary procedural actions have already begun there, he said. "We want the world to know what is really happening and what the Russian occupation has led to.
Zelenskyy invoked the names of other Ukrainian cities where authorities said retreating Russian troops left behind mass graves of civilians and evidence of possible war crimes.
Bucha, Mariupol, now, unfortunately, Izium," he said. Russia leaves death everywhere. And it must be held accountable for it."
Before exhumation work could begin, investigators with metal detectors were scanning the site for any hidden explosives.
The mass grave of Ukrainian soldiers could contain more than the 17 bodies mentioned on its marker, said Oleg Kotenko, an official with the Ukrainian ministry tasked with reintegrating occupied territories. We haven't counted them yet, but I think there are more than 25 or even 30, he said, basing his estimate on video footage of the site that Russian soldiers posted on social media.
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.
Sergei Bolvinov, a senior investigator for Ukrainian police in the eastern Kharkiv region, told British TV broadcaster Sky News that a pit containing more than 440 bodies was discovered near Izium after Kyiv's forces swept in. He described the grave as one of the largest burial sites in any one liberated city.