The burial site in the town of Izyum, Kharkiv region, should be subjected to a thorough investigation, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday
UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd September, 2022) The burial site in the town of Izyum, Kharkiv region, should be subjected to a thorough investigation, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday.
"The reports are a catalogue of cruelty: summary executions, sexual violence, torture and other inhumane and degrading treatment against civilians and prisoners of war. The latest accounts of burial sites in Izyum are extremely disturbing. All these allegations must be thoroughly investigated, to ensure accountability," Guterres told a UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine.
Last week, Ukrainian authorities alleged that mass burial sites were found in Izyum following Russian troops' withdrawal from the Kharkiv region in early September with more than 400 bodies reportedly found so far.
In March-April, the area was a hotbed of hostilities between Russian and Ukrainian forces, seeing control of villages outside Izyum swing back and forth. Ultimately, Russian forces established control over the fiercely contested territory.
Bodies of dead Ukrainian soldiers were transported to local morgues, where some of them were identified.
An eyewitness told Sputnik that Ukraine's command refused to take away the bodies and the soldiers were buried at a cemetery outside Izyum.
In September, Ukraine recaptured Izyum and nearby areas and accused Russia of crimes against humanity.
