After the liberation of Izium in Kharkiv Oblast on 10 September, Ukraine found 450 bodies of civilians with traces of violent death and 20 Ukrainian soldiers with their hands tied behind their backs buried in a mass grave in a forest next to the city.
On 17 September, Maxar Technology published satellite images that show how the territory of the Pishanske cemetery was changing from March 2022 to August 2022 and an image from 8 April that proves Russian troops brought towed artillery battery (6x guns) at the entrance of the cemetery.
https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1571166539243470851
The world's leaders have reacted to atrocities committed by Russian troops.
"Reports of a mass grave with 440 men, women, and children in Izium, Ukraine are heartbreaking and should galvanize our support to the brave Ukrainians seeking to liberate their homeland. We stand with Ukraine in pursuing accountability for these crimes," The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
On 16 September, Jan Lipavský, Czech Republic Minister of Foreign Affairs, called for the speedy establishment of a special international tribunal that will prosecute the crime of aggression. "In the 21st century, such attacks against the civilian population are unthinkable and abhorrent. We must not overlook it. We stand for the punishment of all war criminals," he added.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki compared the killing of civilians and Ukrainian soldiers with the Katyn massacre - mass executions of nearly 22,000 Polish military officers and prisoners of war carried out by the Soviet Union in 1940.
Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau on 17 September underlined that Canada condemns "abhorrent atrocities and will keep working with partners to hold the perpetrators to account, and will continue to be there for the people of Ukraine."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called Izium cemetery "a new Bucha" and confirmed that the UN experts will visit the mass burial site and start to investigate Russia's war crimes. However, Ukrainian rescuers say that Russian forces killed 3 times more civilians in Izium than in Kyiv Oblast.
