US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday that Russia was behaving "horrifically" and was likely responsible for war crimes after mass graves were discovered in Ukraine, AFP reported.
"This is part, horrifically," Blinken told reporters, "of an ongoing story whenever we see the Russian tide recede from the parts of Ukraine that it's occupied."
"We see what's left in his wake. And this latest discovery of apparently 440 mass graves in Izyum is a reminder of that," he added, referring to the eastern city where Ukrainian forces have driven out Russian invaders.
Blinken called on Ukrainians to maintain evidence to document atrocities, saying, "There needs to be accountability."
"In many instances, these will amount to war crimes, which I think is the appropriate frame through which to look at this," the Secretary of State said.
His comments come a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian authorities 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.
Russia's forces left Izium and other parts of the Kharkiv region last week amid a stunning Ukrainian counteroffensive.
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.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)