"As the Russian occupation of the region was on its last legs over the summer, the site, once a mundane place where residents disposed of their rubbish, became a no-go area, according to Kherson’s inhabitants, fiercely sealed off by the invading forces from presumed prying eyes. The reason for the jittery secrecy, several residents and workers at the site told the Guardian, was that the occupying forces had a gruesome new purpose there: dumping the bodies of their fallen brethren, and then burning them," The Guardian wrote.
According to The Guardia, the residents reported seeing Russian open trucks arriving at the Kherson landfill carrying black bags that were then set on fire, filling the air with a large cloud of smoke and a terrifying stench of burning flesh.
“Every time our army shelled the Russians there, they moved the remains to the landfill and burned them,” said 40-year-old Khersoner Iryna.
“I heard the story, but I didn’t go that far with my truck to unload rubbish. But I can guarantee you that, whatever they were doing, it smelled so bad, like [rotten] meat” says the landfill truck driver. “And the smoke … the smoke was thick.”
Ukrainian forces liberated Kherson in early November as Russian troops retreated to the Russian-controlled left (eastern) bank of the Dnipro to use the river as a natural barrier of their defenses in Ukraine's south.
Throughout the months of the Russian occupation of Kherson, the local social media users regularly reported the "burnt meat" stench in the city coming from the landfill believing that the Russians were burning the bodies of their dead soldiers. However, it isn't proven yet that they were actually burning the bodies and that those actually were the fallen Russian soldiers.
Read also:
- Russian soldiers continue to loot Kherson Oblast
- After retreating, Russia shells liberated Kherson, forcing locals to flee
- The unsung heroes of the first battle for Kherson
- Ukrainian ombudsman shocked by scale of torture chambers in Kherson Oblast
- Ukrainian flag officially raised in liberated Kherson during Zelenskyy’s visit — video
- Ukrainian troops enter Kherson – media, Ukrainian intel
