Police exhumed first 20 bodies at mass burial site in Liman — Igor Klymenko
Excavations continue at two locations: according to preliminary information, about 200 civilians are buried in one, the other is a mass grave of servicemen of the Armed Forces. Among the victims are children. The head of the National Police checked the progress of investigative actions in the de-occupied territories of Donetsk region.
Law enforcers received information about the mass burial in Liman from local residents. Civilians are buried in single graves, military men are buried in trenches 40 meters long. According to the witness, he buried here on the orders of the Russian invaders about 20 Ukrainian defenders. Among the dead is also a family with two young children.
On some graves there are plaques with the names of the deceased, others are nameless. However, in each case, the police take biological samples and appoint an examination to identify the dead and determine the cause of their death. The work is complicated by the fact that most bodies are in a state of change, there is a package in which only bones are present.
Investigative and operational teams, forensics and forensic experts work at the excavation site together with the prosecutor's office. In the first days, 20 bodies of civilians and military personnel of the Armed Forces were raised. The exhumation continues in the framework of criminal proceedings opened under Art. 438 (violation of the laws and customs of war) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
In total, since September 29, the police have found 87 bodies in the liberated settlements of Donetsk region, of which 38 civilians have already been identified. According to preliminary estimates, most people died as a result of shrapnel wounds or from natural causes. There are dead with gunshot injuries. So, according to preliminary information, the Russians shot a man in Svyatogorsk.
The other day, 21 people who died during the occupation and were buried in the courtyards of houses took place in Svyatogorsk. The identity of all was established, and their relatives were able to forgive them.
The head of the National Police noted that in the liberated territories the number of appeals to the police from residents is growing rapidly. In the last day alone, law enforcement officers received half a hundred messages, indicating trust and the need for protection.
“Now there is a consolidated squad of police officers from different regions of the state, so they help local police to restore order in the de-occupied territories. Their task is to go around every home, to communicate with every person who has survived the occupation, to record every war crime of Russia and to provide all necessary assistance,” Igor Klymenko noted.
As part of the working visit, the head of the department honored the fighters of the consolidated police units serving in the north of the region with awards.
National Police of Ukraine
