Conflicts & War

150 bodies recovered from rubble in ruined Kharkiv after Russian bombings

Kyiv, May 23 (EFE).- Ukrainian rescuers have recovered at least 150 bodies from under the rubble at nearly 100 sites in the northeastern Kharkiv region that faced heavy Russian bombardments since the Feb.24 invasion of Ukraine.

Anatoliy Toryanyk, deputy chief of the State Emergency Service in Kharkiv, said the rescuers had completely cleared 98 sites of the rubble of structures destroyed in Russian bombings.

“Unfortunately, more than 150 bodies were recovered from under the rubble. During the operational rescue work, our units rescued more than 250 people,” Toryanik said, as reported by the Interfax news agency.

Kharkiv and its capital, the country’s second-largest city with the same name, have been under an intense attack since the war began with the Russians attempting to access the neighboring pro-Russian Donbas region.

The official said five people died “in the line of duty.” These include three sappers and two rescuers who tried to put out a fire caused by shelling.

He said sappers during the first days after the start of the Russian invasion worked out 100-120 demining calls a day.

They made more than 4,000 trips and neutralized about 3,000 explosive devices in less than three months of the sustained Russian attack.

“As of today, we have more than 2,000 mine clearance requests with explosive devises found on the streets,” Toryanik said.

“Our (sappers) just do not have enough time to go and clean everything up.” EFE rml-int/ssk

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