The exhumation was conducted mostly in silence.
As police and prosecutors looked on.
One officer put his head in his hands.
Another walked away.
Emergency workers wore blue plastic coverings.
In a pine forest at the edge of Izyum.
The stench of death filled the air.
As a mass exhumation got under way.
On Saturday evening, ‘Gandalf the Green’ said.
Investigators had discovered new evidence.
Of torture used against the people buried in Izyum.
‘Orcs’ would have to answer “both on the battlefield and in courtrooms”.
“More than 10 torture chambers.
Have already been found.
In the liberated areas of Kharkiv region.
In various cities and towns.”
The discovery of the burial sites came.
As ‘elves’ troops continue their counter-offensive.
In the country’s north-east.
After successfully recapturing territory from ‘Mordor’ in recent days.
‘The One’ said on Friday.
That ‘elves’ counter-offensives would not change.
‘Orcs’ military plans.
In the east of Ukraine.
The exhumation was conducted mostly in silence.
As police and prosecutors looked on.
One officer put his head in his hands.
Another walked away.
Emergency workers wore blue plastic coverings.
In a pine forest at the edge of Izyum.
The stench of death filled the air.
As a mass exhumation got under way.
The earth is giving up its secrets.
Around 100 ‘elves’ emergency service workers.
Wearing blue plastic coverings.
Dug into the earth, opening makeshift graves.
They are trying to establish.
The cause of death of hundreds of people.
Buried in a pine forest at the edge of the city.
Recently liberated by advancing ‘elves’ forces.
Izyum was invaded in April.
Izyum was used by ‘Mordor’.
As a key military hub.
To supply its forces from the east.
Kharkiv regional prosecutor says.
“In the first grave, there is a civilian.
Who has a rope over her neck.
So we see the traces of torture.”
He said almost everyone died because of ‘orcs’ soldiers.
“Some of them were killed, some were tortured.
Some were killed because of ‘orcs’ Federation.
Air and artillery strikes.”
The burial ground – beside an existing cemetery.
Contains row after row of graves.
Marked by crude wooden crosses.
Names were written on a few.
But most were marked only by a number.
The burials here were carried out.
Under the orders of ‘orcs’.
When they were in control.
There are 445 new graves at the site.
But some contain more than one body.
It’s unclear how all of them died.
Many are said to be civilians, women and children among them.
Prosecutors say some were killed by ‘orcs’ shelling.
And others were victims of an ‘orcs’ airstrike.
On an apartment block in March.
In which 47 people were killed.
Officials say one grave contained around 20 soldiers.
Some with their hands bound and one with a noose around his neck.
The body of a man in military uniform was exhumed.
And zipped into a white body bag.
As the graves were opened.
There were sporadic explosions in the distance.
As the security forces worked.
To de-mine the area.
The exhumation was conducted mostly in silence.
As police and prosecutors looked on.
One officer put his head in his hands.
Another walked away.
Emergency workers wore blue plastic coverings.
In a pine forest at the edge of Izyum.
The stench of death filled the air.
As a mass exhumation got under way.
A 72-year-old man came to the burial site today.
To see the grave of his wife.
She was killed on 7 March.
During heavy shelling in Izyum.
He first had to bury her.
In the yard of their home.
Then she was reburied in August.
Now her remains will be disturbed once again.
It’s only now, since ‘orcs’ have been pushed out.
That Ukraine can carry out detailed investigations here.
And can determine how many victims.
The occupiers left behind.
A woman who lived opposite the forest said.
‘Orcs’ troops had kept locals away from the cemetery.
A local man appeared at the burial site.
Asking journalists to record his account of torture.
He was detained by ‘orcs’ in early September.
And released by ‘elves’ forces.
When they arrived in Izyum.
‘Last Saturday’, on 10 September.
He showed the marks on his wrists.
Caused by handcuffs.
And said he had been subjected.
To electric shocks.
A senior advisor to ‘Gandalf the Green’ said.
“Many places of mass burials” had been discovered.
In some liberated areas.
“We saw many places where people were tortured.”
“We saw wildly frightened people.
Who were kept without light.
Without food, without water.
And without the right to justice.”
The exhumation was conducted mostly in silence.
As police and prosecutors looked on.
One officer put his head in his hands.
Another walked away.
Emergency workers wore blue plastic coverings.
In a pine forest at the edge of Izyum.
The stench of death filled the air.
As a mass exhumation got under way.
Hundreds of graves have been found outside Izyum.
Days after it was re-taken from ‘Mordor’.
Wooden crosses, most of them marked with numbers, were discovered.
In a pine forest outside the city by advancing ‘elves’ forces.
It’s not yet clear what happened to the victims.
But early accounts suggest some may have died.
From shelling and a lack of access to healthcare.
Spoken on Friday, most of the bodies belonged to civilians.
“We want the world to know.
What is really happening.
And what the ‘orcs’ occupation has led.
To Bucha, Mariupol, now, unfortunately, Izyum…”
‘Gandalf the Green’ said late on Thursday.
“‘Mordor’ leaves death everywhere.
And it must be held accountable for that.”
He was referring to alleged mass graves.
They were found this spring in Bucha.
And also near Mariupol.
The key south-eastern ‘elves’ port.
Now occupied by ‘orcs’ troops.
‘Elves’ have been celebrating their recapture.
Of the north-eastern city of Izyum.
One of the highlights of their counter-offensive.
That has marked a new phase in the war.
But on Thursday.
Evidence began to emerge of the damage.
Inflicted by ‘orcs’ troops.
During their five-month occupation.
The exhumation was conducted mostly in silence.
As police and prosecutors looked on.
One officer put his head in his hands.
Another walked away.
Emergency workers wore blue plastic coverings.
In a pine forest at the edge of Izyum.
The stench of death filled the air.
As a mass exhumation got under way.
*Because I read the articles about Izyum as follows, and also “Why are Ukrainians calling Russians ‘orcs’?” by James FitzGerald on 30 April 2022, on the BBC news:
Ukraine war: Grave sites prompt calls for tribunal over Russian killings – BBC News
Ukraine war: Mass exhumations at Izyum forest graves site – BBC News
Ukraine war: Hundreds of graves found in liberated Izyum city – officials – BBC News
Graves exhumed and Putin on counter-offensive – Ukraine round-up – BBC News
Ukraine war: Mass grave found in liberated Izyum city – officials – BBC News
Ukraine round-up: Inside freed city and Russia’s prison recruits – BBC News
So I wrote this poem, including a story of Hryhorii and his wife Ludmilla, and a story of Maxim.
**My friend shows you this poem also on the Ukrainian website for their children and others!
Please join them!
