Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that bodies recovered in a mass forest grave near the recaptured city of Izyum showed signs of torture by Russian troops.
"Today, the world must see what the Russian army left behind. More than 400 graves are in the forest near Izyum," Zelenskyy posted on his official Telegram social media platform page Friday. "We still don't know exactly how many bodies are there ... Russia has already become the biggest source of terrorism in the world, and no other terrorist power leaves behind so many deaths.
"This must be recognized legally. The world must act. Russia must be recognized as a state sponsor of terrorism."
According to Ukrainian officials, some 440 bodies were buried at the site, one of the largest mass gravesites discovered since Russia invaded in February, including bodies with broken bones and ropes around their necks, The Associated Press reported.
Journalists visiting the site reported seeing the graves marked with crosses, some with flowers, showing the names of the victims, the report said.
Ukrainian workers and investigators donning head-to-toe protective suits and rubber gloves were tasked with exhuming the remains and used metal detectors to scan for explosives as soldiers strung red and white tape between the trees.
According to the report, the crew spent hours digging in the rain and hauling the bodies out of the sandy soil, carefully looking through the clothing on the bodies for identifying items.
"The harsh reality indicates that the number of dead in Izyum may be many times higher than the Bucha tragedy," the AP reported Oleg Kotenko, an official with the Ukrainian Ministry tasked with reintegrating occupied territories, posting on Telegram.
He was referring to the Kyiv suburb where more than 1,300 bodies were discovered in graves throughout the area forests following a 33-day Russian occupation.
The AP report said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is vowing to continue fighting and to ramp up attacks despite the recent losses of territory.
"If the situation develops this way, our response will be more serious," the AP reported Putin telling reporters Friday after attending a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Uzbekistan. "We aren't in a rush."
While Putin claims the soldiers fighting in Ukraine were "volunteers," letters left behind during the Russian's recent retreats show a very different mindset.
"I refuse to complete my duty in the special operation on the territory of Ukraine due to lack of vacation days and moral exhaustion," the Washington Post reported a man who identified himself as the commander of an antiaircraft missile platoon from the Moscow region writing.
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