Ukraine says mass burial site shows signs of violent death

In a gruesome reminder of the human cost of Russia's invasion, most of the bodies showed signs of a violent death, said Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv region military administration.

There are bodies with a rope around the neck, with hands tied, with broken limbs and gunshot wounds. Syniehubov said on Friday that several men had their genitals amputated.

All this is evidence of the terrible torture the occupiers had to endure for the residents of Izium. Syniehubov said most of the bodies were civilians and only 21 were military.

Izium, which is located near the border between the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions of Ukraine, was subject to intense Russian artillery attacks in April. During the five months of occupation, it became an important hub for the invading military. Ukrainian forces took over control of the city this month, delivering a strategic blow to Russia's military assault in the east. Russian forces were forced to flee the strategic eastern city after Ukrainian forces began a new offensive eastward through the Kharkiv region. Ukraine's offensive successfully recovered thousands of square miles of territory, but it also revealed evidence of the horrors suffered by civilians and soldiers at the hands of Russian troops. Some bodies found at mass burial site in Izium show signs of torture, Ukraine says. Syniehubov said this wasn't the only mass burial ground discovered. There are at least three more in other liberated areas of the Kharkiv region. He stated that each of the bodies recovered has a different story and he vowed to find out the circumstances of each of their deaths so that their relatives and friends know the truth and the killers are punished. All the crimes of the occupiers will be documented, and the perpetrators will pay for what they have done, Syniehubov said. He thanked the 200 people - including forensic experts, police officers, and employees of the State Emergency Service -- who had been working there everyday for their morally difficult but necessary work.