BORODYANKA, Ukraine (AP) — The Ukrainian government on Thursday exhumed a mass grave near the town of Bucha, suggesting further killings by Russian forces in a domain where evidence of alleged atrocities against civilians has sparked global outrage.
The unmarked grave containing the remains of 3 men was found near the town of Borodyanka, authorities said, after a local man who buried the bodies there about a year ago returned to the domain and informed local authorities.
The body of one of the slain men was discovered in a burned-out car shortly after Russian forces took control north of Kiev and were buried on March 8, 2022, authorities said. The other two men gave the impression that they had been shot at about the same time.
Andriy Nebytov, police leader in the Kiev region, where Bucha is located, said civilians have been reluctant to report the incidents of violence they have witnessed, even long after the Russian forces leading them withdrew defeated.
“It’s hard to compare the movements of other people who have experienced so much fear,” Nebytov told reporters on the site. “The Russians killed and destroyed in front of their eyes, and then [the residents] buried those other people. “
Nebytov said officials would check to identify the men, possibly DNA.
The exhumed bodies of the men, who appeared to be in civilian clothes, were placed in black plastic bags near where they were buried. A dirty Nike sneaker lay next to one of the bodies.
The discovery came shortly after Ukraine marked the first anniversary of President Vladimir Putin’s invasion, whose main goal was to overthrow the Ukrainian government and capture the capital, Kiev. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed to fight and regain all controlled spaces. through Russia, they now account for about one-fifth of Ukraine’s sovereign territory.
As Kremlin troops struggled to penetrate Kiev in the early weeks of the war, the city of Bucha and its surrounding neighborhood, plus Borodyanka, were occupied by invaders and a stage for Russian forces.
When they withdrew more than a month later, the world was shocked by evidence of acute human suffering, with bodies strewn in the streets or piled up in wells, and elderly and others killed in violent attacks. Many of the patients appear to have been summarily executed.
The gruesome scenes in Bucha and surrounding cities have galvanized globally in favor of Ukraine and strengthened Ukrainian opposition to any concessions to Putin.
While many citizens of Bucha fled before the Russians arrived in February 2022, officials estimated that a tenth of those left had died during the time of Russia’s withdrawal.
In Busha, it took until the end of the summer for the government to achieve what they imagine to be a final tally of the dead, the vast majority of whom showed symptoms of torture, massacre or beatings.
Across Ukraine over the past 12 months, at least 8,000 civilians have been killed and 13,000 wounded, according to the United Nations. But officials acknowledge that the real number may be much higher.
Ukraine and its supporters in the West are now seeking to advance a multi-layered effort to hold Russian military leaders and officers accountable for their movements in Ukraine, adding in local courts and potentially at the International Criminal Court. But this effort faces challenges, adding to the slowness of wartime justice and Russia’s ability to block judicial projects at the United Nations.
According to Nebytov, citizens like the guy who buried the 3 sick in Borodyanka were “bearers of valuable information”, whose testimony can prove very important in punishing Russia for what its troops did in Ukraine.