September 14, 2022 – Volodymyr Zelenskiy made a surprise visit to the recently recaptured north-eastern Ukrainian city of Izium on Wednesday.
The city had been occupied by Russian forces early on in the conflict and was retaken in a stunning counteroffensive which Ukraine launched earlier this month.
Commenting on the extensive damage to civilian infrastructure the Ukrainian president said ‘the view is very shocking, but it’s not a shock for me, because we began to see the same pictures from Bucha.’
Zelenskiy also visit Balakliia which Ukraine took control of late last week, and presented medals to members of Ukraine’s armed forces.
Zelenskiy said about 8,000 sq km had been cleared of Russian forces in the Kharkiv Oblast
September 14, 2022 – CNN national security analyst Beth Sanner explains the significance of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Izium following the city’s liberation from Russian occupation.
September 15, 2022 – Ukrainian authorities say they have found a mass burial site of more than 440 bodies in the eastern city of Izium that was recaptured from Russian forces.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has likened the discovery to what had happened in Bucha, saying: ‘Russia leaves death everywhere, and must be responsible for it.’
Russia has repeatedly denied it targets civilians or has committed war crimes.
September 15, 2022 – A mass burial site containing around 440 graves has been found in the Ukrainian city of Izium, a top police officer has told Sky News.
The city was retaken by Ukrainian forces last week.
Serhii Bolvinov, the chief police investigator for Kharkiv region, said all the bodies would be exhumed and taken away for forensic examination.
September 16, 2022 – The authorities in Ukraine have begun the painstaking process of exhuming hundreds of bodies whose graves were discovered in a forest near Izium.
September 16, 2022 – Ukrainian authorities say the bodies of at least 440 people, mostly civilians, have been found at a mass burial site in Izium, in northeastern Ukraine.
Exhumations continue in the area, recently recaptured from Russian forces.
September 16, 2022 – Warning: This video contains disturbing content not suitable for all viewers. Discretion is advised.
Most of the people buried in a mass grave discovered in the Ukrainian city of Izium are civilians, Ukraine’s head of the national police, Ihor Klymenko, said Friday.
Earlier in the day, Ukrainian authorities said they had found a mass grave containing 440 bodies in the city, a former Russian frontline stronghold, and said this was proof of war crimes carried out by the invaders.
Asked if the Izium site contained mainly civilians or soldiers, Klymenko said there were soldiers there too but based on a preliminary estimate, the majority were civilians.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also commented on the situation, saying it “looks like a bloody soap opera.”
At the site in Izium, Oleksandr Ilyenkov, chief war crimes prosecutor in Kharkiv, said they were also examining the bodies to determine the causes of death.
“Our aim is to retrieve the bodies, to fix the possible facts for violent causes for death, and to forward the facts for a court’s medical expertise,” Klymenko said.
September 16, 2022 – A mass grave has been found outside Izium in eastern Ukraine, days after the city was liberated.
Authorities say it’s one of the largest burial sites found in any city recaptured from the Russian army. Both soldiers and civilians are buried there.
DW correspondent Nick Connolly in Kharkiv says Ukrainian authorities now face the task of piecing together the circumstances that led to those mass graves.
September 17, 2022 – Investigators searching through a mass grave in Ukraine say they’ve found evidence that some of the dead were tortured.
The site near Izium, recently liberated from Russian forces, appears to be one of the largest discovered in Ukraine yet. But Ukrainian authorities warned that their investigation is just beginning.
September 23, 2022 – ABC News’ Tom Soufi Burridge visited the recently-liberated Ukrainian city of Izium, where a mass grave site has unveiled the nightmarish war crimes committed during Russia’s occupation.
October 2, 2022 – When Ukrainian forces retook the city of Izium, many of the corpses in mass graves showed signs of torture.
The Associated Press located 10 torture sites where survivors say they were beaten, shot and electrocuted.
October 17, 2022 – At just ten years old, Nikita has witnessed war and violence first-hand, including a cluster bomb falling on the yard of his family’s home.
He is just one of several children who are among the residents to have survived five months of Russian-occupation and fierce fighting in the frontline town of Izium.
France 24 went to meet some of the young families who have lived through the horrors of war in the eastern Ukrainian town.
December 21, 2022 – An NBC team spent weeks inside the bombed out city of Izium, Ukraine hearing the stories of those who survived the worst of Russia’s war.
Despite relentless bombardment, air strikes, and allegations of torture by occupying Russian forces, the people of this once idyllic city are unbowed.