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Ukraine probes suspected mass burial near Russian border: report

27.09.2022 19:30
Ukrainian experts are investigating a suspected mass burial site in the town of Kozacha Lopan in the northeastern Kharkiv region near the Russian border, according to news reports.
Members of the Ukrainian military prepare to move the body of a soldier found where Ukrainian troops were stationed in the village of Dementievka not far from the border with Russia, September 26, 2022.
Members of the Ukrainian military prepare to move the body of a soldier found where Ukrainian troops were stationed in the village of Dementievka not far from the border with Russia, September 26, 2022.Photo: EPA/SERGEY KOZLOV

The mass burial site is in a shell-damaged and abandoned industrial chicken farm in an area recently recaptured from Russian forces, the AFP news agency has reported.

The site is expected to hold about 90 to 100 bodies buried during the Russian occupation of the area, according to troops and officials.

Forensic teams are expected to arrive later this week, once the area is deemed safe for work, the AFP said on Monday.

Meanwhile, forensic experts have exhumed 447 bodies from a mass burial site near the Ukrainian city of Izyum, which was recently retaken from Russian troops in the northeast of the country, news outlets have reported.

These include 425 civilians, among them five children, in addition to 22 Ukrainian servicemen, according to the AFP.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier this month: “Bucha, Mariupol, now, unfortunately, Izyum... Russia leaves death everywhere. And it must be held accountable for that.”

Tuesday was day 216 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

(gs)

Source: PAP, AFP