Mass grave with 55 bodies found in Lyman, Ukraine
STORY: "These are local civilians and our defenders, armed forces servicemen," Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said as forensic workers in white suits moved around one of the sites at a cemetery in Lyman, retaken from Russian forces on Oct. 1.
He said the bodies of 55 people had been exhumed in the town, including civilians. The prosecutor general's office said authorities had counted 110 trenches containing graves, including some for children, at the Nova Maslyakivka cemetery.
"The youngest is only one year old," it said in a statement on its website. "She is buried next to the whole family."
A doll rested against the foot of one cross marking a grave with the name Yelena Kisil, born Oct. 18, 2019, alongside another cross marking the grave of Lyudmila Kisil, born March 27, 2021. Both died on May 24, 2022, during the period when Russian forces were battling to seize Lyman.
Kyrylenko said that preliminary results on the 55 exhumed bodies indicated deaths resulted from "explosive and projectile injuries, bullet injuries."
"We also don't exclude torture, especially among the civilian victims," he said. But only court medical experts would be able to tell for sure, he added.
Reuters could not independently determine the causes or timing of the deaths.
