The war in Ukraine is taking a new turn as Kyiv seems to have all of the momentum these days. And now we are getting a small glimpse into the carnage Russia created and the lives that were lost.
Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova said unmarked graves found in Izium show people were tortured and “war crimes of massive proportions.”
“It’s tortures, rapes, killings — war crimes of massive proportions. That’s why we need to liberate the whole territory of Ukraine as soon as possible because clearly Russians are targeting all Ukrainians,” Markarova said during an interview with ABC News’s “This Week.”
“Clearly Russians are targeting all Ukrainians,” Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova tells @jonkarl. “Whole families. Children. So, there is no war logic in all of this. It’s simply terrorizing and committing genocide against Ukrainians.” https://t.co/KVmxJpnlUG pic.twitter.com/rKqEyRn1sa
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) September 18, 2022
She added: “Whole families. Children. So, there is no war logic in all of this. It’s simply terrorizing and committing genocide against Ukrainians.”
Last week, Ukraine’s defense ministry said that mass graves were discovered in Izium after the city was retaken by Ukrainian forces. The largest burial site found has 440 unmarked graves. Reuters reported that some of the bodies were found with ropes around their necks and their hands tied.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy compared the atrocities in Izium to those previously seen in Bucha, and Mariupol.
“Russia has already become the biggest source of terrorism in the world, and no other terrorist power leaves behind so many deaths. This must be recognized legally. The world must act,” Zelenskyy wrote in a Telegram post.
Sarah Al-Arshani is a breaking news reporter for Insider (where this first appeared). Before joining Insider, Sarah was an editorial intern with The Jordan Times. She graduated from the University of Connecticut in May 2019. Her work has also been published in local newspapers in Connecticut such as the Republican-American newspaper and Willimantic Chronicle.