Zelenskyy accuses Russia of atrocities, torture in newly liberated Izyum
Lviv, Ukraine, Sep 17 (EFE).- Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russian forces of carrying out atrocities, including torture, in the recently liberated city of Izyum.
Ukrainian authorities have discovered some 440 graves in a mass burial site on the outskirts of the city in the Kharkiv region, eastern Ukraine.
“It’s too early to give figures on how many people have been buried there,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly address late Friday. “The investigations are ongoing.”
He added: “There are clear indications of torture and humiliation of the population.”
He drew a comparison between Izyum and Bucha, the city near Kyiv where hundreds of civilian bodies were found, including some with signs of execution, following Russia’s withdrawal from the region in April.
Ukrainian authorities claim to have found 10 torture chambers in Kharkiv territory liberated from Russian occupation, six of which were located in Izyum.
The European Union’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said the bloc condemned the “atrocities” in Izyum in the “strongest possible terms.”
“The European Union is deeply shocked by mass graves discovered by Ukrainian authorities with more than 440 bodies in Izyum, a city recently liberated from invading Russian military,” he said.EFE
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