Ukrainian officials said satellite images may have revealed another mass grave containing up to 9,000 bodies located roughly 12 miles from Mariupol.
The possible mass grave was discovered near the northwestern edge of Manhush, according to a Telegram post by the Mariupol City Council. Officials said between 3,000 and 9,000 people could be buried there.
“This is indicated by a comparison with satellite photos of the burial in Bucha, where 70 people were found,” the post stated. “In Maxar photos from April 9, the mass grave sector in Mangush is 20 times larger. The occupiers dug new trenches and filled them with corpses every day throughout April. Our sources report that in such graves the bodies are placed in several layers.”
The Mariupol City Council wrote that “cautious estimates” suggest at least 22,000 people in the city have been killed by Russian forces.
“NEW: Satellite imagery reveals a mass grave site about 12 miles west of Ukraine’s besieged city of Mariupol. Russian soldiers have been reportedly taking the bodies of people killed in Mariupol to this site in Manhush, Ukraine that contains more than 200 graves,” reporter Jack Detsch tweeted.
“The biggest war crime of the 21st century was committed in Mariupol. This is the new Babyn Yar. Then Hitler killed Jews, Roma and Slavs. And now Putin is destroying Ukrainians. He has already killed tens of thousands of civilians in Mariupol. And this requires a strong reaction from the entire civilized world. Anything needs to stop the genocide ,” Mayor Vadym Boychenko said in a statement posted on Telegram.
According to NPR, Maxar Technologies, a company that provides satellite imagery, said that the alleged mass grave has gotten bigger over the past several weeks, indicating that Russian troops are continuously adding Ukrainian bodies to the burial.
The grave has reportedly grown to be larger than three football fields.
Earlier this month, the Ministry of Defense of The Russian Federation released a statement denying the execution of civilians in Bucha, calling reports of a massacre “just another provocation.”
“All the photos and videos published by the Kiev regime allegedly testifying to some ‘crimes’ committed by Russian servicemen in Bucha, Kiev region are just another provocation,” the ministry claimed in a statement posted on Facebook.
“During the time that the town has been under the control of the Russian armed forces, not a single local resident has suffered from any violent action. Russian servicemen have delivered and distributed 452 tonnes of humanitarian aid to civilians in Kiev Region.”
