11 more bodies buried in Ukrainian town where hundreds were slaughtered under Russian occupation

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11 more bodies buried in Ukrainian town where hundreds were slaughtered under Russian occupation

With graves marked with numbers only, burial services were held this week for 11 more unidentified bodies found in the town where hundreds of people were slaughtered under Russian occupation early in the war.

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Two women and eight men were buried under a grim grey sky, after their remains were discovered in a mass grave near Bucha's Church of Andrew the Apostle.

They were found after Russian withdrawal from the city in late March, which is located near the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

An 11th victim had been shot dead and was found in the village of Chervone, 17 kilometres outside Kyiv.

Another man who was shot dead but later identified was buried at the same cemetery.

The civilian killings in Bucha have become a symbol of the brutality of the war.

They were carried out as Russia launched a failed attempt to capture the Ukrainian capital after it invaded the country on February 24.

The bodies arrived in a refrigerated truck wrapped in plastic, were placed in wooden caskets and then buried separately.

Father Andriy, an Orthodox priest who led the service near the mass grave site, said we are praying for the souls of those killed unjustly.

After an August 9 service in Bucha, 15 people were given a dignified burial, it was the second such funeral of unidentified bodies.

458 bodies have been found in the Bucha area after the 33 day Russian occupation, according to the municipal authorities.

They include 12 bodies of children, killed with their parents in most cases.

Authorities said 116 bodies were found in the mass grave near the Church of Andrew the Apostle.

The process of identification began at several morgues in the Kyiv region in April.

The bodies are buried one month after the autopsy, but are unidentified if relatives can't be found to formally name them.

Oleksandr Khmaruk, 37, was originally listed as a number, because his parents were unable to find his body due to a bureaucratic mix-up.

Khmaruk, who served in Ukrainian forces from 2014 to 2015, was believed to have been dragged from his home and shot by Russian soldiers at a checkpoint.

He was one of the 458 dead found in Bucha after the Russian occupation and was discovered in the same mass grave as the latest 10 unnamed bodies that were buried.

Mykhailyna Skoryk-Shkarivska, deputy mayor of Bucha, said the number could change as more family members were found.

She hopes that these numbers will change into names.