Another mass grave found in centre of Mariupol

Ukrayinska Pravda
·2 min read

MONDAY, 16 MAY 2022, 20:25

A satellite has recorded the presence of a fourth mass grave near the besieged city of Mariupol, not far from the Central Cemetery in the city itself.

Source: "Skhemy" Programme (Radio Liberty) analysed satellite imagery from the Maxar Technologies company

Details: On 14 May, Petro Andriushchenko, an adviser to the Mayor of Mariupol, reported that the City Council had received information about the reopening of the historical cemetery "Necropolis," where the so-called "mass grave" may be located.

With the help of Maxar satellite imagery provided by the "TVIS" company, the "Shkemy" journalists identified this mass grave site, consisting of two trenches. One of them stretches more than 30 metres.

Mass graves appeared in early March. The photographs taken on 9 March already show that two trenches, where people were buried en masse, have been covered up.

On 10 March, a journalist from the Azerbaijani edition of APA TV, Ilagh Veliyeva, posted a video of mass graves of deceased Mariupol residents on her Facebook page, but did not indicate the exact place of burial. Analysing the video, "Shkemy" were able to confirm that we are talking about the historical cemetery "Necropolis" in the centre of Mariupol.

This is confirmed by frames from the video itself, Radio Liberty notes. On one side, you can see the dome of St. Nicholas Cathedral, a tall chimney belonging to a building in Levitan Lane, as well as the roofs of utility buildings behind the fence.

On the other side, you can see the buildings of the PJSC "Elektrobytpribor" enterprise and the unfinished 24-storey building of the "Pioneer" residential complex.

The mass grave in the central residential district of Mariupol is already the fourth such grave confirmed by local authorities.

Three such places are already known around the city: near the urban-type settlement of Manhush, at the cemetery in the village of Vynohradne, and at the cemetery of the urban-type settlement of Staryi Krym.

Background:

  • Maxar Technologies satellites recorded the appearance of trenches 300 metres long at the end of March in a field near Manhush, where the invaders took the bodies of murdered Mariupol residents.

  • Mariupol City Council has calculated that up to nine thousand people could be buried in such trenches.

  • A similar mass grave from satellites has been recorded in the village of Vynohradne, not far from Mariupol.

  • In late April, satellites detected the presence of a mass grave at the Staryi Krym cemetery in the northwestern suburbs of Mariupol.

  • Satellites have recorded an increase in the length of mass grave sites in the villages around Mariupol.