Ukrainian officials claim to have found hundreds of bodies. Some had their hands tied behind their backs with signs of torture. The mass graves in Izyum are just the latest. And destroyed buildings, including Ukrainian people’s houses and their cars, litter the streets.
Serhiy Bolvinov, head of the investigative police in the Kharkiv region alleges that 111 civilian bodies were exhumed Wednesday. And four showed signs of torture with others appearing to have been executed.
There have been mass graves discovered in all the territories recaptured from Russian forces. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky claims there is clear evidence of war crimes.
Putin escalation
This is the first time the Pope has spoken out about the war in Ukraine. He has been criticized for not previously calling out Russia. And for suggesting that the Kremlin had been “somehow provoked”.
“Let us unite with these noble and martyred people,” the Pope said.
Russia has denied its troops have committed any war crimes. And on Monday the Kremlin claimed again that since the invasion in February its troops have committed no crimes. The Kremlin says any allegations of abuses in the Kharkiv region, particularly in Izyum are a “lie”.
