The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday claimed that a mass grave has been discovered in Izyum after the town was reclaimed from Russian forces.
‘We want the world to know what the Russian occupation has caused,’ he asserted, without giving details on the number of bodies found or their cause of death.
‘We need to have more clear and verified information tomorrow.’
A regional police official, Sergei Botvinov, told Sky News that a burial site with around 440 graves had been discovered in Izyum.
Some of the dead were shot, others died in shelling, he added.
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Zelensky went on to compare Izyum to the cities of Bucha and Mariupol which have become symbols of atrocities during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
‘Russia leaves death behind everywhere. And she must respond. The world must really hold Russia responsible for this war. We are going to do everything we can to do that,’ he said.
Meanwhile, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen yesterday declared that she wants Russian President Vladimir Putin to face the International Criminal Court over war crimes in Ukraine.
‘That Putin must lose this war and must face up to his actions, that is important to me,’ she told the TV channel of German news outlet Bild.
‘There was no doubt that war crimes had been committed in Ukraine’, said von der Leyen, who also visited Kyiv Thursday.
‘Therefore we support the collection of evidence’ with a view to possible proceedings at the International Criminal Court, she said.
‘That is the basis of our international legal system, that we punish these crimes. And ultimately, Putin is responsible,’ she said.
Asked whether Putin would one day be brought before the court, she responded: “I believe it is possible.”
During her visit to Ukraine for talks on closer integration with the European Union, von der Leyen pledged that the war-torn country would have Europe’s support for “as long as it takes”.