Russian War Crimes in Ukraine

"I have seen liquefied bodies. I have seen mummified bodies. The Russian ambassador would be welcome to stand where I stood, smell what I smelled and then make the statement he made."

"They [Russian servicemen] lived and worked next to this mass grave. I saw it. I know it."

American reporter Sarah Ashton-Cirillo

"The idea that they [murdered Ukrainian civilians] were given some kind of dignity doesn't tally with what I saw."

"They'd have to bring in a lot of rotting bodies [rebutting claims of Russian officials that war crimes committed in Izyum were 'fake']. I'm not sure how they would manage that without anyone locally seeing it."

British journalist Liz Cookman

"Tell the truth to the whole world. I want the whole world to know, to see what they've done here."

"These people brought us this so-called Russian world and this is what the Russian world means [her son murdered in Bucha by Russian military."

Distraught mother, Bucha, Ukraine

"It’s a lie and of course we’ll stand up for the truth in this entire story."

"Kyiv is pushing the same scenario in Izyum as it did with the provocation in Bucha,"

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov

A soldier walks among the graves found in the forest    Reuters

 

Oleg Stepanov, Russia's Ambassador to Canada dismisses reports that a mass grave was discovered in the northeast Ukrainian town of Izyum. Such reports represent outright 'lies', he asserts, a "monstrous provocation" on the part of Ukraine. Izyum in the Kharkiv region had a prewar population of 46,000. reduced by April to 10,000 to 15,000 of its residents once it was occupied by the Russian military. Finally liberated in a Ukrainian counteroffensive, it was discovered that 440 bodies were buried in a mass grave.

 

A repeat of what had occurred in Bucha, north of Kyiv, liberated in April when the discovery of over 400 bodies were found in yet another mass grave. Upon examination many of the bodies indicated signs of summary execution, hands tied behind backs. Exhumations and investigations in Izyum are of a later occurrence and are ongoing. Local officials speak of deaths caused by Russian artillery or airstrikes, while other bodies appear to have resulted from raw murder following torture.

One body, as an example, was found to have crushed testicles. Traces of torture appeared on the inner thighs. Ukraine suggest international investigators may wish to conduct an independent review of the site and its macabre evidence. Ambassador Stepanov stated that reports of Izyum were nothing but lies whose purpose was to "stage 'Bucha' in a new way" to "try to mobilize a certain part of the western public on the Ukrainian topic."

According to President Putin, Russia acted benevolently in the region. Just as Russia accused Ukraine of staging the Bucha massacre, producing 'fake' footage while Moscow claimed its military did nothing untoward; had instead delivered humanitarian aid to the region, the very same response to the Izyum discovery has been brought into play with Russian disinformation agents claiming Russia took pains to ensure that dignified burials took place of Ukrainian soldiers whose bodies had been abandoned.

Once again, reporters on the ground give evidence to the contrary. While Russia denies it is guilty of war crimes, a wide group of nations and unaffiliated media outlets refute Russian claims again and once again, but nothing convinces Russia it should put a halt to its false propaganda. Sarah Ashton-Cirillo, an American reporter, describes personally observing exhumed bodies in civilian clothing, hands restrained behind their backs, and bodies clearly showing signs of torture.

Blunt trauma wounds - obvious indications of torture and murder. Any suggestions the graves were fake or staged, she emphasized, were ludicrous. She attested that the bodies had lain there at least for several weeks. She had toured a Russian military compound approximately 60 metres from the site of the mass grave, showing just how absurd Russian claims of not having seen anything out of the ordinary having taken place, to explain the mass graves. 

Questioning locals, a dsecription of Russian troops having scoured the town for civilian bodies       previously buried elsewhere, as example in residents' gardens, Russians forcibly exhumed, gathered and dumped the bodies in the mass grave, against the will of families of the victims. What motivated these reburials are not known. Locals believe the Russians may have attempted to shield from view the extent of the deaths in the area. 

Locals attest their friends or family members disappeared or had been tortured. Many locals hid in their homes confining themselves as much as possible, in the hopes of avoiding being confronted by
 Russian troops known to arbitrarily torment civilians. Torture chambers had been seen by both reporters, where bloodstains were visible in the interiors. 

Forensic technicians at the site of a mass grave in a forest on the outskirts of Izyum. Juan Barreto/AFP