On September 23, 2022, in Izium, Kharkiv Oblast, law enforcement officers completed the exhumation of 447 bodies (425 civilians, 5 children, and 22 servicemen) from a mass grave.

Many bodies showed signs of violent death and torture. Bodies with hands tied up, ropes around the necks, evidence of castration and other kinds of mutilation, and bullets lodged in the back of skulls.

The mass graves were discovered by chance, according to Kharkiv’s regional chief of police, Volodymyr Tymoshko.

On returning to the liberated town of Izium, police officers visited households and interviewed residents to record any crimes committed by Russian occupying forces, including looting and acts of torture and murder. During these surveys, police located the sites where the Russians had secretly buried Ukrainian citizens.

On September 23, 2022, in Izium, Kharkiv Oblast, law enforcement officers completed the exhumation of 447 bodies (425 civilians, 5 children, and 22 servicemen) from the mass grave. Many bodies showed signs of violent death, and torture: bodies with hands tied up, ropes around the necks, evidence of castration and other kinds of mutilation, and bullets lodged in the back of skulls.

The mass graves were discovered by chance, according to Kharkiv’s regional chief of police, Volodymyr Tymoshko. On returning to the liberated town of Izium, police officers visited households and interviewed residents to record any crimes committed by Russian occupying forces, including looting and acts of torture and murder. During these surveys, police located the sites where the Russians had secretly buried Ukrainian citizens.