According to the country's defense minister, Ukrainian officials have discovered hundreds of dead from a mass grave close to the recently freed city of Izium, some of which had signs of suspected torture, The Daily Caller reported.
According to the Ukrainian Minister of Defense, more than 400 dead, including children, victims of missile assaults, and Ukrainian military personnel, were discovered at the mass grave site. According to the Associated Press, some of the bodies had ropes around their necks, and their wrists were tied behind their backs.
The United Nations (UN) noted in a Friday statement about the findings that it is still unclear whether the bodies found are civilians, soldiers, or both.
The finding was made a few days after Ukrainian forces expelled Russian forces from Izium and other areas of Kharkiv, according to the AP. Prior to the Russian army' retreat, similar grave sites in Ukraine were discovered. In April, 280 people were exhumed from a Bucha graveyard, which is close to Kyiv.
"Russia is a terrorist country," President Zelenskyy said Friday on Twitter.
Russia is a terrorist country. I don't know why the world is slow to recognize it. We liberated Izium. Over 400 graves were found in the forest next to it. How many tortured Ukrainians are there is unknown. How many more of our people must die so that all finally figured it out? pic.twitter.com/0nqqaPPsLK
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 16, 2022
On his Twitter account, the president of Ukraine shared images of what appeared to be the ongoing exhumation, showing workers sifting through the earth beneath a forest of trees and graves nearby that were marked with wooden crosses.
The Ukrainian president noted past allegations of Russian violence in Ukraine when speaking to his country on Thursday, according to CBS: Bucha, Mariupol, now, unfortunately, Izium … Russia leaves death everywhere. And it must be held accountable for it," he said, the outlet noted.