Russia-Ukraine war: Mass graves found in Lyman, says Ukrainian regional governor

Following the discovery of mass graves in the liberated territory of Izyum, Ukrainian authorities discovered more mass graves in another liberated territory. Authorities found mass graves in the newly reclaimed area of Lyman, according to the Ukrainian regional governor.

Ukrainian regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said authorities found mass graves in the reclaimed town of Lyman in Donetsk. It has yet to be determined how many bodies are buried in the area. Kyrylenko made the announcement on the Telegram messaging platform on Friday last week, that officials found a mass grave that is suspected of having both soldiers and civilians buried there.

In a separate report, the Ukrinform news outlet said the mass grave in Lyman had 180 bodies, according to a senior police official. The Kyiv Post also shared on Twitter that a mass grave was found in Lyman with the same number as what the police official supposedly said, with young children reportedly included among the 180 bodies in the graves.

Ukrainian officials have accused Russian forces of committing atrocities in the territories it has occupied. Moscow has denied the accusations.

The discovery of a mass grave in Lyman follows last month’s discovery of mass graves in Izyum in northeastern Ukraine. The bodies of 436 people were exhumed from the graves after the town was reclaimed by Ukrainian forces. Local officials said most of the bodies appeared to have died violent deaths.

The mass graves in Izyum resulted in the European Union calling for a war crimes tribunal in Ukraine, and the International Criminal Court sent its largest team of experts to investigate potential war crimes committed by Russian forces.

Ukrainian forces are continuing their advance, pushing Russian troops back into Luhansk, where thousands have fled only to leave destruction in their wake. Russian forces retreated from Torske in Donetsk, leaving behind military uniforms that were hanging in abandoned houses that soldiers had taken over.

One woman recalled the retreat, seeing Russians moving everywhere, “driving on the road, lots of vehicles but I’m afraid to speak about it. When the Russians gave us humanitarian aid, there were about 700 of us, but many left for the Russian side just before the Ukrainian army liberated the village.”