In Butja, just outside Kiev, the Ukrainian authorities are still recovering bodies. The Russians already withdrew at the end of March, but fatalities are still being found. They are often located near a checkpoint, but mass graves have also been found. It painfully illustrates the horror that has transpired in the occupied region.
“Everything indicates that this man was murdered by Russian soldiers. We have already recovered more bodies in this region.” Vyacheslav Tsyliuryk, the head of the local police unit, stands by the body of an unknown man in Zahaltsy, a village in the Butya region. It is now the umpteenth body that Tsylliuryk and his unit have found.
The man’s body was found near a checkpoint held by Russian soldiers at the start of the invasion. “We believe this man was on his way home when he was shot,” Tsylliuryk said.
The man was wearing a winter coat, which led detectives to suspect that it was still cold when he was killed. This may have happened in late March or early April, when the Russians were already withdrawing. “Most of the victims we found were murdered as the Russians retreated. They lost all sense of humanity then,” according to Ukrainian Tsyliuryk.
mass graves
The Ukrainians found many other bodies in mass graves. According to Ukrainian police, up to 650 residents were coldly executed by Russian soldiers and then dumped in a shallow pit. For example, earlier this month, a mass grave was discovered with at least seven fatalities who are believed to have been mistreated before dying.
“Those who have done this are not humans. They are animals,” said the Ukrainian police officer. “We will punish anyone responsible for these barbaric crimes.”
The Russians are gone by then and everything seems to be going back to normal. Yet it is difficult for the inhabitants of Zahaltsy, among others, to pick up the thread again. “You can come across a corpse here at any moment during your walk with your child,” testifies a mother. “We have not really recovered since the departure of the Russians.”
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