Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday that Ukrainian authorities have found a mass burial site near the city of Izium, which was recently recaptured after being occupied by Russian forces.
"A mass grave of people was found in Izium in the Kharkiv region. The necessary procedures have already begun there. More information - clear, verifiable information - should be available tomorrow," Zelenskyy said in his nightly televised address, as quoted by The Associated Press.
AP journalists who saw the site in a forest outside Izium reported seeing a mass grave bearing a marker saying it contained the bodies of 17 Ukrainian soldiers. It was surrounded by hundreds of individual graves with only crosses to mark them.
Zelenskyy invoked the names of other Ukrainian cities where authorities said retreating Russian troops left behind mass civilian graves and evidence of alleged war crimes.
"Buch, Mariupol, now, unfortunately, Izium. ... Russia leaves death everywhere. And it must be held accountable for it. The world must bring Russia to real responsibility for this war," he stated.
Russia's forces left Izium and other parts of the Kharkiv region last week amid a stunning Ukrainian counteroffensive. On Wednesday, Zelenskyy made a rare trip outside Ukraine's capital to watch the raising of the national flag at Izium's city hall, according to AP.
On Monday, the Ukrainian President said his country’s forces had recaptured 6,000 square kilometers (2,320 square miles) of territory from Russia this month.
Kharkiv region had been partly occupied by Russian troops since the start of the invasion launched on February 24.
The city of the same name is regularly targeted by bombardments, but the Russian troops have never managed to seize it.