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NV has compiled the key facts of what appears to be an echo of the shocking discovery of April’s Russian atrocities in the Kyiv suburbs of Bucha, Irpin and Hostomel.
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Police investigate Russian crimes in Kharkiv province
The police, the National Guard, the Border Control Service and the State Emergency Service have already been involved in the recently liberated areas of Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine’s Deputy Interior Minister Yevhen Yenin said on Sept. 13.
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Police investigations alone have already uncovered evidence of at least 40 Russian war crimes in the region, according to Yenin.
“The invaders have occupied this territory for quite some time and tried to cover up the evidence,” Yening said.
“We have discussed burning documents, burying bodies and other activities that are currently being investigated by police detectives.”
Izyum city councilor Maxim Strelnik echoed this sentiment: It is estimated that at least 1,000 civilians were killed in Izyum during the Russian occupation of the city.
“The Russians tried to cover up their war crimes, just as they did in other occupied cities…; at least 1,000 local civilians died in the conflict,” Strelnik said. I’m here.
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“Unfortunately, we believe there were more casualties because we were unable to provide medical care in time. Russian forces destroyed all medical facilities in Izyum in March. With difficulty, the Russians looted all pharmacies in the city.”
Russian forces engaged in deliberate killing of civilians. Here are some facts already established by law enforcement.
Zaliznychne, near Chuhuiv, Kharkiv Oblast
After Zaliznytyne was liberated by advancing Ukrainian forces, local residents told law enforcement officials that Russian troops had killed their neighbors.
On September 11, police found four bodies with signs of torture. Three of his were buried next to a private house, and another of him was buried across from the train station.
Hrakove near Chuhuiv
Serhiy Rutsai of Hrakové region told police on September 7 that Russian soldiers forced him to bury the bodies of two Ukrainians. Based on this report, law enforcement officers found two bodies with torture marks and gunshot wound marks on the back of the head buried near a private residence.
A preliminary investigation concluded that the two were killed in March.
A journalist from the German news agency DW spoke with Rutsai, who said pro-Russian forces ordered the bodies buried and threatened them with weapons.
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they brought me here There were two dead and two young men,” Rutsai said.
The remains are currently being unearthed. Kharkiv police chief Serhiy Bolvinov said the victims were tortured and had their ears cut off before being shot.
Two more cemeteries were found in Flacove, where the murdered inhabitants are buried.
Activists, Volunteers and Locals Are Sharing More Direct Accounts
More reports of Russian atrocities are pouring in as volunteers and journalists start talking to the liberated townspeople.
Journalist Oleksiy Kashpolovsky talks about Russian crimes in Bohorodykhine, Donetsk region
“The village was contested and our men found the corpse of a decapitated and barefoot soldier, along with half a dozen civilians killed,” Kashporowski said.
Only two people remain in Bohorodychne: 60-year-old Mykola and her 93-year-old mother Nina. Russian invaders killed Mykola’s brother Vasyl and his wife. Mikola buried them in the hill behind his house.
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He told Kashporowski that he set up a series of booby traps, hoping to avenge the Russians for the death of his family.
“I set up[the grenade booby trap]to catch those bastards!” Mykola told Kasipolovsky.
“They killed my brothers! I would have attacked my mother…”
According to Mykola’s mother, the Russians also robbed almost all the chickens.
After the liberation of Balakliya in the Kharkiv province, Russian torture sites were discovered in the city. It was a basement with handcuffs, blood stains, her propaganda leaflet about “Ukrainian Nazis”, and a detention cell.
Tata Kepler and Natalya Lelyukh work across the liberated Kharkiv province to provide medical and humanitarian assistance to local populations.
“These liberated villages are exactly what we saw near Kyiv in April. Sheer fear, confusion and anger,” Kepler said after six months of “fear, psychological pressure and intimidation.” I explained how people feel.
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“People finally relax when we’re around and start talking about imprisonment, torture, having to work for food,” Kepler said.
“Some were threatened in torture cellars. Empty houses were occupied by Russian troops and people had to speak in whispers. Many simply did not go out and instead lived in their gardens. A man took his son away.He still doesn’t know what happened to him.He kept repeating, “Shame, shame, shame.”
People could not leave anywhere except Russia. I don’t know if I can cross the border or if I can afford it after everything I had is taken away. “
“The elderly did not receive public pensions. Some were given 10,000 rubles ($167),” added Kepler.
“Most people were forced to work for food. Entire buildings were devoid of people, nearby forests were mined and roads were marked with checkpoints.”
She said locals are cut off from news about what is happening in Ukraine.
“Collaborators were reporting families of Ukrainian soldiers. They showed people pictures of tortured captives and said, ‘This is your[son],'” Kepler said. I was.
Kepler and Relyuf have documented many instances of Russian troops leaving entire towns without medical supplies.
“People with amputations, broken bones, ascites, dermatitis – all had to resort to homemade remedies,” says Lelyukh.
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“People are speaking Ukrainian and crying. They have been off medicine for six months,” added Kepler.
Shortly after she started working in the liberated town of Kharkiv province, she said, her stock of sedatives and heart medication was completely depleted.
In another post, she told the story of a man “enduring 32 days of torture in a basement” and a friend hanging over a radiator.
“During burial, we weren’t allowed to open his coffin. His name was Maxim Sherihan,” said Kepler, a man who wanted the world to know about his friend murdered by the Russians. I spoke the words.
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According to Strelnik, nearly 80% of Izyum’s infrastructure was destroyed during the occupation, and locals were captured, prevented from fleeing, and undergoing so-called “purges.”
“They were looking for Ukrainian veterans, territorial defense volunteers, businessmen, activists, and their families,” the councilor added.
“If they found anything, those people were instantly ‘arrested’. We still don’t know what happened to these people who were illegally imprisoned and tortured. “
CNN, in a report from Zaliznitsyne, quoted Maria Hryukhorova, who had to bury her neighbors and friends after being murdered by the Russians.
“We noticed that the door had been left ajar for several days,” Hryhorova says.
“Because I was choking them alive or wounded, I noticed that their bodies were already cold and I saw two bullet holes in Koschantin’s forehead.”
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Residents of Zaliznicine described the occupation as “terrifying” for CNN journalists. Although normal life appears to be beginning to return to the villages, “fear of the return of Russian forces still lingers in the air,” the report said.
Volbinov told journalists that Kharkiv police were recording evidence of Russian war crimes “in almost every town.”
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