Mass grave found in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region

A mass grave with at least 17 bodies was discovered in the Borova district of Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, the National Police of Ukraine reported.

Both civilians and Ukrainian servicemen are buried there, the message says. Investigators recovered three bodies of servicemen in a day, the police stated.

Residents of the Kopanka village told investigators that in April, while the area was still under Russian occupation, Russian troops collected the bodies of the dead from the area, brought them to the burial site in two trucks, dug a 10-foot pit, threw the bodies in there and levelled the ground with tanks.

According to the Ukrainian police, the Russians did not mark the burial site and did not allow local residents to do it either. They were only allowed to visit the grave on Easter. “People found three crosses and marked the perimeter of the grave. They pulled out some weeds,” the statement says.

All bodies will be sent for a forensic examination.

The police launched criminal proceedings over infringement upon Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

Two weeks ago, the bodies of four civilians were found in the settlement of Kupyansk-Vuzlovyi in the Kharkiv region. They were likely shot during the Russian occupation. All of them have gunshot wounds to the chest and head.