The exhumation of bodies found in a mass grave in Sloviansk has begun, said Ministry of Internal Affairs advisor Anton Herashchenko, as reported by the Ministry press service, July 28.
According to Herashchenko, on July 24, the first mass grave in Sloviansk was exhumed, which the terrorists deliberately located in the center of the city, in a park near the monument to the heroes of the 1917-1920 civil war.
A total of 14 bodies were removed, which had been buried in the middle of June. Three bodies of tortured victims were recognized during the exhumation,. They turned out to be parishioners of the Protestant Church of the Transfiguration — Albert and Ruvyn Pavenko and also Viktor Brodarskyi.
The three, together with a fourth parishioner, Volodymyr Velychko, were taken by terrorists in the morning of June 8 directly from religious services and shot the same day on suspicion of helping Ukrainian military. The body of Velychko is still unidentified, since it was burned by terrorists and will require genetic identification. The remaining bodies removed from the mass grave could belong to other tortured victims or even terrorists, including citizens of Russia and other countries.
Harashchenko emphasized that the Ministry of Internal Affairs will follow a clear and systematic approach to all the burial spots in Sloviansk and other cities liberated from the terrorists and will attempt to establish the identity and circumstance of the death of each buried individual.
MIS also announced that citizens of Russia or other countries who have lost touch with relatives who came to Ukraine to fight on the side of terrorists may come to Ukraine to identify the bodies, possibly with the help of DNA identification.
Additional information will be provided via e-mail or by phone (+38 093 743 23 99).
The Ministry asks that citizens call 102 to report all mass graves in the Donbas where victims of the terrorists may be buried.
[hr] Translation: Anna MostovychSource: mvs.gov.ua
