Ukrainian authorities say they discovered a mass grave filled with the bodies of 440 people in the northeastern town of Izium days after the area was liberated from occupying Russian forces. “Some died because of artillery fire,” Serhiy Bolvinov, chief police investigator for the Kharkiv region, told Sky News of the people in the grave. “Some died because of airstrikes.” After visiting Izium on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky likened the discovery to alleged war crimes orchestrated by Russian troops against civilians in Bucha, near Kyiv, earlier in the year. “Russia is leaving death behind it everywhere and must be held responsible,” Zelensky said during a video address late Thursday. Russia has consistently denied targeting civilians during its invasion or committing war crimes.
