Ukraine says mass graves have been found in recaptured city of Lyman | Abroad

Ukrainian governor of the Donetsk region, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said one cemetery contained about 200 individual graves containing civilian bodies. It was unclear how many bodies the second site contained, but it could be soldiers or civilians alike, he said.

The time and cause of death of the deceased has yet to be determined. For now, independent sources are unable to confirm the mass graves. Kyrylenko says government employees have begun an investigation into both cemeteries. He asked people not to speculate on the details until the investigation was completed.

Russia withdrew its troops from the strategic city of Lyman, a major setback to its invasion of eastern Ukraine. Lyman is located in Donetsk – one of the four partially occupied Ukrainian regions that Moscow declared to be annexed.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has previously accused Russia of deliberately killing civilians elsewhere in Ukraine. Mass graves were found this spring in Butya, near the capital Kiev, as well as near Mariupol – the major port in southeastern Ukraine that has been occupied by Russia since the invasion of Ukraine in February.

Investigators and journalists found evidence of the deliberate killing of civilians in Butsha and other nearby areas. Ukrainian troops said they had found mass graves and evidence that civilians had been killed after their feet and hands were tied.

Hundreds of graves were also found in the eastern city of Izyum, days after Russian troops withdrew, Ukrainian authorities said. It’s unclear what happened to the victims, but initial reports suggest some died from shelling and lack of access to health care.