Ukrainska Pravda reports that the Associated Press (AP) agency has recorded at least 10,300 new graves in and around Russian-occupied Mariupol since March.
According to satellite imagery, most of the graves are located in a cemetery. The cemetery is located in the urban-type settlement of Staryi Krym, near Mariupol, in Donetsk Oblast. AP estimates that the total area occupied by the new burials exceeds 51,500 square meters. Analysis of video footage revealed that the Russians are using heavy machinery to dig long, backfilled trenches.
The graves appear as earthen mounds, sometimes with wooden crosses bearing names and dates. Most graves are with little plaques bearing handwritten numbers. Several graves were marked with multiple numbers. It is a possible indication of more than one burial.
Given the limited information and lack of site access, three forensic archaeologists with experience in war crimes investigations involving mass graves considered the analysis reasonable. According to one of the experts consulted by the agency, the number of graves does not necessarily correlate to the number of Ukrainians killed.
AP notes that international forensic experts have unearthed graves containing multiple sets of human remains in other territories of Ukraine. Many had obvious signs of violent death, such as blast injuries, bullet wounds, and rope-bound hands.
Read also:
In Mariupol, death rate increased fivefold; birth rate decreased tenfold – City Council of Mariupol
Journalists find new graves at a mass burial site near occupied Mariupol – BBC
EBRD to help Ukraine to rebuild Mariupol, destroyed by Russian troops
Russia is creating a tiered defense in Kherson Oblast and fortifying Mariupol
