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Condemned to live with the stigma of an occupation that claimed the lives of nearly 1,000 of the 13,000 civilians who lived there at the time Izium still doesn't know how it will emerge from this ordeal Nicknamed "the key to the Donbas" and a railway crossroads backed by the Siversky Donets river and dominated by a high hill trying to recover the lost thread of its history You have 82.09% of this article left to read Lecture du Monde en cours sur un autre appareil Vous pouvez lire Le Monde sur un seul appareil à la fois Ce message s’affichera sur l’autre appareil Parce qu’une autre personne (ou vous) est en train de lire Le Monde avec ce compte sur un autre appareil Vous ne pouvez lire Le Monde que sur un seul appareil à la fois (ordinateur En cliquant sur « Continuer à lire ici » et en vous assurant que vous êtes la seule personne à consulter Le Monde avec ce compte Que se passera-t-il si vous continuez à lire ici Ce dernier restera connecté avec ce compte Vous pouvez vous connecter avec votre compte sur autant d’appareils que vous le souhaitez mais en les utilisant à des moments différents Nous vous conseillons de modifier votre mot de passe Votre abonnement n’autorise pas la lecture de cet article merci de contacter notre service commercial This was reported in Telegram by the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office “The investigation established that on April 10 the Russian army struck the city of Izium with a UAV A woman of 49 years old suffered acute shock,” the statement reads A pre-trial investigation into the commission of a war crime (Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) has been initiated As reported, on March 24, Russians attacked Izium in Kharkiv region with 14 Shaheds While citing and using any materials on the Internet links to the website ukrinform.net not lower than the first paragraph are mandatory citing the translated materials of foreign media outlets is possible only if there is a link to the website ukrinform.net and the website of a foreign media outlet Materials marked as "Advertisement" or with a disclaimer reading "The material has been posted in accordance with Part 3 of Article 9 of the Law of Ukraine "On Advertising" No 1996 and the Law of Ukraine "On the Media" No 2023 and on the basis of an agreement/invoice Online media entity; Media identifier - R40-01421 One of the alleged victims has never been found; the other was buried in a mass grave Large teams of forensic experts work together with law enforcement officers and criminologists to collect evidence for future trials A Russian soldier has been indicted in two separate cases of murder in the city of Izyum in Kharkhiv region Prosecutors allege that Ahmed Duduyev was involved in the murder of Ukrainian pathologist Fedir Zdebskyi from the city of Izyum in Kharkiv oblast He has also been named in the case of Izyum entrepreneur Oleh Salyha whose body was later found in a mass grave Since the same panel of judges will hear both cases the decision was taken to consolidate the two indictments into a single proceeding at the Dzerzhynskyi district court of Kharkiv a 28-year-old citizen of the Russian Federation was identified as a combat vehicle commander with the 27th Separate Motorised Infantry Brigade The defendant faces charges of the cruel treatment of civilians combined with the intentional murder and other violations of the laws and customs of war Dudyev “intentionally murdered Fedir Zdebskyi… motivated by anti-Ukrainian sentiment” entered the pathology department of the Pishchanskoi Bohomateri Central Local Hospital on Zalikarniana St in the city of Izium Three people were present in the room: Zdebskyi laboratory technician Valentyna Borchan and pathologist Serhii Mozzhukhin The charging document does not specify why Duduyev visited the department told the soldier that he considered the Russian military presence in the city of Izium to be illegal Duduyev struck Zdebskyi several times in the face and then fired four shots from a Kalashnikov assault rifle at the ceiling Borchan fled in fear and the Russian officer ordered Mozzhukhin to find her and make her return to the room Only Duduyev and Zdebskyi remained in the room Investigators believe Duduyev then shot Zdebskyi in the chest at least once The plaintiffs in the case are Zdebskyi’s ex-wife Kurylo related how Duduyev had come to the hospital demanding Zdebskyi’s car The pathologist was had a prosthetic leg and so drove a modified vehicle “The occupants often tried to take this car from us,” Kurylo said Our car had a disabled badge and manual steering Duduyev came into the office and demanded that they give him the car Fedir told him that ‘no one called you here The Russian serviceman then beat Zdebskyi and appeared to shoot him Kurylo said that she had learned these details from witnesses who overheard the conversation between the Duduyev and the doctor Zdebskyi was taken from the office and driven away in an unknown direction The pathologist’s body has yet not been found and his corpse was not at the mass burial site discovered on Shakespeare Street in Izium Kurylo said that she still hoped her common-law husband was only wounded and then taken to Russia where he is being held in prison that he is missing,” Kurylo told the court Duduyev is also among the indictees in the case of the murder of 57-year-old Salyha His body was found in the mass grave on Izyum’s Shakespeare Street that yielded the remains of 445 civilians who was not in Izyum during the occupation relayed the accounts of neighbours and acquaintances Russian servicemen took her father from his home placed a bag over his head and drove him to their command post “Contradictory information emerged,” she said The others stated he was sent there for forced labour discreetly photographed the body to ascertain the cause of death My father was friends with the manager; everyone there knew my father “The report indicated that he had a fatal shrapnel chest wound but I was told that he was wearing a white T-shirt and this T-shirt was clean Olesia said that a neighbour had reported seeing a badly injured Salyha come out of the Russian command post in occupied Izyum “He was severely beaten there for reasons unknown,” Olesia continued The Russians then took the man in an unknown direction and he was not seen alive again a neighbour who had remained in Izyum informed Olesia that her father had been buried at the mass burial site on Shakespeare Street Olesia requested in a statement to the court that the case proceed in her absence from the city of Poltava – both serving in the de facto Luhansk armed forces - together with four other unidentified servicemen illegally detained and interrogated local residents who were not participating in combat operations Russian servicemen arrived in two vehicles at the house where Salyha lived with his friend Salyha and Bondarenko were led out of the house with bags over their heads and their hands tied The suspects took them to a building at 10-G Honcharivska Square in Izyum Salyha was later taken out of the building and transported to another location The investigation has not yet determined the final destination “Salyha died as a result of numerous blows to vital organs,” the charging document stated Russian servicemen later transported Salyha’s body to the morgue the forensic examination conducted after the exhumation revealed that Salyha had a fractured skull a broken jaw and fractured laryngeal cartilage and ribs The Dzerzhynskyi district court of Kharkiv was scheduled to hold the first preparatory hearing in the case concerning the intentional murders of Salyha and Zdebskyi on February 6 The hearing did not take place due to the absence of one of the members of the panel of judges said he was determined to begin hearing the evidence as soon as possible Ukraine provided free defence attorneys to all the defendants Journalists need training and support to properly cover war crimes trials Activists warn that vulnerable domestic workers risk abuse often returning with serious health conditions sacrifice and luck secured a vital early win in the south-eastern campaign Some women face Adana's male-dominated traffic chaos for a living Recent murder highlights widespread discrimination and violence against LGBTI people Open source intelligence (OSINT) can provide facts – but impatient Tel +44 (0)20 7831 1030 Tel +1 202 393 5641 IWPR is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom (charity reg no: 2744185); in the United States as a not-for-profit organisation with tax-exempt status under IRS section 501(c)(3); and as a charitable foundation in The Netherlands The opinions expressed on iwpr.net are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Institute for War & Peace Reporting Site design by IWPR. Developed by AG Prime The UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine has strongly condemned a missile strike in Kryvyi Rih on Friday which killed more than a dozen people Matthias Schmale said he was outraged by reports of yet another Russian attack on the city “This attack follows a deeply disturbing pattern of repeated attacks on populated areas across Ukraine that continue to kill and maim civilians,” he said noting that the country's second-largest city was “still reeling” from a massive attack the night before Civilians are protected under international humanitarian law In response to the incident, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) called for an immediate end to attacks on civilian areas in Ukraine “We are devastated by the horrific attack in Kryvyi Rih that reportedly killed at least nine children and injured many more, including one as young as three months old,” said UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia The missile reportedly struck a residential neighbourhood in the Saksahanskyi district in the early evening when many families gathering ahead of the weekend No parent should ever endure such pain,” she said UNICEF and partners are on the ground supporting affected families and coordinating with local authorities to deliver emergency assistance De Dominicis noted that more than 2,500 children have been killed or injured and millions of young lives have been upended since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 “Every child killed is a future stolen,” she remarked.  “The brutal use of explosive weapons in populated areas and attacks on civilian facilities and infrastructure Classes cut short by air raid sirens have become a routine part of school life for many Ukrainian youngsters in the three years since Russia’s full-scale invasion began, a new UN report published on Friday details the exhibition Path of Most Resistance by Fabian Knecht opened at the Museum for contemporary art in Kraków (MOCAK) in Poland Knecht created some exhibits with camouflage nets from Kharkiv and Izium Fabian Knecht is a German artist who primarily does performance Since the outbreak of Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine he has been actively supporting the Ukrainian resistance and volunteering as a humanitarian aid worker “Fabian Knecht says he never wanted to make art about war but simply wanted to help friends and friends of friends But it quickly became clear that returning home from volunteer missions only to talk about something else in his artistic practice felt inorganic An artist must speak about what they see,” said Alona Karavai Path of Most Resistance is the artist’s fourth exhibition under this title following shows in Berlin in 2022 and Wolfsburg and London in 2023 The exhibition brings together works that express Knecht’s personal resistance to the Russian war against Ukraine (and against all of Europe a large-scale outdoor installation on the museum’s facade the work comprises hand-made Ukrainian camouflage fabrics that Knecht collected in Kharkiv the city in the southeast of Kharkiv Oblast Other exhibited objects and installations are made from materials sourced directly from the war zone fabric soaked with ash from burned Russian tanks and a bullet-riddled cooking pot serve as tangible evidence and testimony of the Ukrainian resistance The exhibition also includes several recent works by Knecht that comment on political and societal conditions in Western Europe.  The exhibition will be available for viewing until September 7 Subscribe to news from Kharkiv, UkraineMost important stories from the frontline region Google Facebook Or Register from Google Register from Facebook Or Website materials are permitted only with an active link to “GWARA MEDIA,” not lower than the third paragraph The use of digital platform content is allowed with textual attribution Content for documentary films and integrated products is permitted The site was modernized with the support of the European Endowment for Democracy in 2023 ' + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.webview_notification_text + ' " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_title + " " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_text + " A Russian missile fired Tuesday on the eastern Ukrainian city of Izyum killed at least five people and wounded nearly 40 others Four people were killed," Kharkiv region Governor Oleh Syniehubov wrote on Telegram adding that five people had been hospitalized He said a residential building was hit in the attack Syniehubov said another body had been recovered from the rubble while another 38 people were reported wounded which had a pre-war population of around 45,000 was occupied for several months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion Ukraine liberated the city in September 2022 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said after the attack that it was "impossible to reconcile with this cruelty" and urged Kyiv's Western allies to put pressure on Moscow to end the war Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent." These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help please support us monthly starting from just $2 and every contribution makes a significant impact independent journalism in the face of repression According to Ukrinform, the State Emergency Service (SES) reported this on Facebook the enemy launched MLRS strikes at forested areas of Borova community in Izium district fires broke out in the Borova forestry area and in the Chervonooskil Regional Landscape Park affecting over five hectares," the statement reads A total of 34 rescuers and nine units of SES equipment have been deployed to extinguish the fires A total of 11 forest fires are currently being extinguished across forestry areas in Kharkiv region five of which are directly linked to Russian shelling drone attacks in Izium district of Kharkiv region have caused destruction and fires You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has resulted in extensive damage to the built environment This widespread destruction is impacting the availability and accessibility of essential services and affecting livelihoods throughout the country Here are the key take-aways from our Damage Impact Analysis Report conducted by IMPACT Initiatives through our initiative REACH For effective humanitarian response and recovery it is crucial to understand the extent and impact of infrastructure damage on various sectors such as education A thorough analysis helps in developing localized measures to mitigate and remediate these impacts For more details, please refer to the full report available here subjected her to sexual violence during the Izium occupation As the independent International commission of Inquiry on Ukraine reported Russian crimes in the form of kidnapping civilians on the occupied territory are widespread and systemic According to the Prosecutor’s Office, at the beginning of November 2024, there were 326 cases of sexual violence registered since the start of Russia’s all out-war, of which 209 were on sexual violence (of Russians) against women, 117 — against men, and 17 — against children. According to the pre-trial investigation, in July 2022, two Russian soldiers came to the house where the woman lived. “They forced her to take a warm cloth and go with them. The woman refused. The Russian commander started to choke her, so she fainted. They pushed the woman to the car trunk and drove her to the torture room, which was on the railway hospital territory,” said the Prosecutor’s Office. One of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) militants systematically raped the woman, investigators say. Also, he put pressured her psychologically, threatening to kill her, take off her clothes, take a photo, and send it to her policeman son. “During interrogation, Russians connected the wires to the victim’s legs and turned on the electricity. She was suffering from pain, falling down the floor, but she was forced to get up and feel the pain again,” said the Prosecutor’s Office. Russians put on the gas mask and handcuffed her, hanging her up to the ceiling and beating her body with the belt, law enforcement said. According to the investigation, Russians held the woman in the torture room from July 1 to July 10. Militants warned her that they will kill her if she tells anyone what happened. During this period, she tried to commit suicide because of her mental trauma. “There was no air in the room (in the torture room), so to get fresh air the woman took one brick out of the wall. Militants gave her two buckets: one for a toilet, the other for porridge and bread,” the Prosecutor’s Office said. The police also found out that the woman scratched her name, the torture days count, and what she had to go through on the wall with an old nail. “Electric shock. Undressing. Pain,” the woman wrote.  Two suspects are now wanted by Ukraine’s law enforcement. If found guilty, they could face from eight to twelve years in prison or a life sentence. The Prosecutor’s Office is still trying to identify all Russians involved in the crime. The head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, Oleh Syniehubov, said this in a post on Telegram, Ukrinform reports The person is being identified,” the post reads the Russian army struck the central part of Izium in the Kharkiv region with a ballistic missile The missile hit an administrative building and damaged other administrative buildings and residential buildings The reported attack comes just days before Russia's Victory Day parade and three-day "truce." MPs will be able to ask questions and learn more about the details of the agreement in meetings with Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko May 6-7 MP Serhii Sobolev told the news outlet Suspilne The ratification vote is scheduled for May 8 Attacks against the border villages of Bilopillia and Vorozhba damaged civilian infrastructure and triggered emergency evacuations the regional military administration reported "I look forward to working with President Erdogan on getting the ridiculous war between Russia and Ukraine ended — now!" U.S Putin's Victory Day truce "doesn't sound like much if you know where we started from," Trump told reporters at the White House on May 5 Far-right Euroskeptic candidate George Simion head of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan placed second with 20.99% of the vote and the candidate from the ruling coalition "It requires the continuation of contacts between Moscow and Washington which have been launched and are now ongoing," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said set to operate within the Council of Europe will focus on Russia's political and military leaders up to 20 Russian soldiers were killed and their equipment destroyed The move represents an apparent violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions passed in the wake of North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests "We are ready to deepen our contribution to the training of the Ukrainian military," Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on May 5  (Updated:  February 4, 2025 5:37 pm) • 2 min readby Martin FornusekThe aftermath of a Russian missile attack against Izium (State Emergency Service/Telegram)Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated A Russian missile attack against the town of Izium in Kharkiv Oblast killed at least five people and injured at least 55 on Feb including a six-year-old boy and two girls The 14-year-old girl is in a serious condition while the other two children are in a condition of medium severity The governor initially reported four people killed – two men and two women A fifth victim was reported later during the day when rescue services recovered another body from the rubble According to preliminary data, Russian forces used a ballistic missile in the attack, targeting the central part of the city, Syniehubov said. 0:00/1×The aftermath of a Russian missile attack against Izium (President Volodymyr Zelensky/Telegram)An administrative building suffered a hit while another administrative building and several residential buildings were damaged Syniehubov stressed that no military facilities were located in the targeted area Izium, a town with a pre-invasion population of 45,000, lies in the southeastern part of Kharkiv Oblast over 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the regional center and around 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of the front line Kharkiv Oblast in Ukraine's northeast is a regular target of Russian missile and glide bomb attacks from across the border or Russian-occupied territories Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies The head of state said this in a post on Telegram The rescue operation continues after a Russian missile strike on the city This attack destroyed part of the city council building we know there are casualties – twenty people have been injured My condolences to the families and loved ones," Zelensky said He condemned the ongoing Russian missile strikes on peaceful cities stressing that such brutality cannot be tolerated "Maximum pressure must be applied to Russia – through military force and diplomacy – to stop the terror and protect lives," Zelensky said the Russian army launched a missile strike on Izium in the Kharkiv region The missile struck an administrative building causing damage to other government and residential structures the mass graves in Izium – it is as if these atrocities never happened Orders and statements from the new US president come at us daily now and international politics is reduced to an endless series of justifications and denials of unfounded accusations It’s hard to believe, but Ukrainian activists have had to write explainers for a global audience, reminding them who the true dictator is, that it was not Ukraine that started the war with Russia and that we are actually just trying to defend what is ours These past three years of our lives have been referred to in many ways: Putin’s war, the Russo-Ukrainian war, the full-scale invasion, the conflict. Now some of the media are starting to call it simply the Ukrainian war or the Ukrainian crisis. US envoys have started objecting to the phrase “Russian aggression” in G7 communications And we are being dragged into a paradigm in which the war crimes of the Russians will soon be called “those events” or “this situation” The world is trying to understand how Ukrainians feel about all this and I have been having chats with foreign journalists Almost everyone asks whether it is possible to get used to living in a war it seems as if the world has long since grown used to the idea that there is a war in Ukraine and that this is simply the way it is now A Ukrainian serviceman is reunited with his daughter after a prisoner-of-war exchange between Russia and Ukraine Photograph: Evgeniy Maloletka/APUkrainian servicemen and women are defending the borders of our country around the clock Years of grief without the opportunity to grieve tragedy that cannot be lived through but is simply compounded by the next airstrike A foreign journalist asked me if I had ever felt real hatred towards Russians and dreamed of killing them one by one but please do not squeeze emotions out of us just to give yourself a headline for your report when the enemy did this to your people … I said Anger is a more constructive feeling that gives you strength and opportunity to at least somehow act A major international media outlet asked me recently to join its educational platform I had to record a video message in English and talk about my experience of serving in the armed forces of Ukraine so children around the world could learn English from these videos and accompanying materials I recorded it and did everything according to their instructions I got a cheerful message the other day from the editorial office saying: “We’ve launched!” I opened the presentation and had a panic attack The lesson was structured around eight speakers each talking about their war experience: four Ukrainians (including me) and four Russians A Russian journalist and armed forces “deserter” The question proposed for discussion: “What similarities and differences did you notice when listening to the experiences of people from Russia and Ukraine?” The emotional negligence of this makes me want to scream we have been turned into research material I am sickened by how my story has become an ideological tool to equalise the experience of the defender and the attacker nausea and despair into diplomatic phrases and requests to the international media outlet asking them to remember that the experience of Ukrainians and Russians in this genocide is not something that can be compared I’ve been living with the acute feeling that the world is tired of restraining its unquenchable love of Russia The west wants to believe in the Cinderella story that one day the dictatorship will fall and a wonderful democratic world will emerge The world is ready to listen to Russia again: a UK television channel last year released the film Ukraine’s War: The Other Side by Sean Langan The film doesn’t just give the other side a voice; it gives a human dimension to the stories of the occupiers and repeats the narratives of Russian propaganda This is as consistent with journalistic standards as asking an executioner and do you miss your family who are waiting for you at home My parents spent almost three weeks under occupation in Bucha But all these years I have lived with a keen sense of the need for justice for others wondering every day why the crimes of Russians remain unpunished Or is it easier for the world to forget all this and pretend that none of the following events happened The siege of Mariupol and the deadly shelling of the local theatre A missile attack on the Kramatorsk railway station A rocket attack on a children’s hospital in Kyiv Thousands of Ukrainian children abducted by Russians. Thousands of missing Ukrainian soldiers. Tens of thousands of Ukrainians killed. Thousands in Russian captivity. Dozens of executions captured on camera when Russians killed those who surrendered Someone who supplied parts for their weapons Someone who settled in the occupied Ukrainian cities in addition to Russian and Iranian shells (and support from about 20 countries around the world) we are being attacked by the military from North Korea a world order is being formed in which truth as a category does not exist That was not a Nazi salute at the inauguration celebrations If during the first term of Trump’s presidency we talked of the post-truth era now we find ourselves in a world in which the truth is taken out Russia has been living like this for centuries one with an arrest warrant from the international criminal court and the other the first US president to have a mugshot taken after being criminally charged The world is looking at the body of truth that is dying and bleeding before our eyes at least don’t turn away from the sight of blood Yet there is a unity among Ukrainians that I have not seen for a long time Oleksandr Mykhed is the author of The Language of War and member of PEN Ukraine a little more than six months after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began the city of Izyum in Kharkiv Oblast was de-occupied from Russian forces 80% of the city’s infrastructure was destroyed 177 medical facilities have been completely destroyed and 1,500 health facilities have been damaged by Russian attacks Izyum Primary Health Care Center was badly damaged affecting health workers’ ability to provide care to surrounding communities In coordination with the Kharkiv Regional State Administration and the Ministry of Health and with funding and support from Rolls-Royce PLC Project HOPE launched a reconstruction project to rebuild an outpatient clinic damaged by shelling that would improve health care access for nearly 38,000 people After five months and $200,000 invested into this project and refurbishing the space to ensure it could meet the needs of the local community the newly rehabilitated clinic began a new chapter in its life I want to thank you all for doing everything you can,” said Ivan Syrovatko Project HOPE’s Strategy Director in Ukraine “And regardless of the injustice around you “I am grateful to Project HOPE for the invaluable support you have provided since the liberation of our city from the Russians,” said Yulia Vrodzinska Director of the Izyum City Primary Health Care Center “You helped rebuild the clinic and provided new premises so that our community could receive medical care that is convenient After opening remarks and an official ribbon cutting ceremony community members were able to take a tour of the updated rooms and see the impact of Project HOPE’s reconstruction process The clinic is now operational with two family doctors ready for appointments “I really want to thank you,” said Valery Dzyuba Deputy Head of the Kharkiv Regional Council and I hope that we will have more really powerful projects that we implement together.” Project HOPE has completed construction projects in 17 buildings within 12 health care facilities across Ukraine — in Kyiv Mykolaiv and Kharkiv oblasts — that serve over 400,000 patients a year Project HOPE’s construction team is focused on a renovation project at the rehabilitation department of the Mykolaiv Regional Clinical Hospital to ensure that more people can access high-quality health care Thank you for signing up for news and information alerts from Project HOPE We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to us using data collected from the cookies on our website. To learn more, check out our privacy policy Oleh Syniehubov, the head of the Kharkiv regional military administration, announced this on Telegram Administrative buildings have been partially destroyed a five-story residential building has been damaged,” he said in the post This was reported on Telegram by Head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration "The identities of the women killed in the strike have been confirmed one of them was pregnant," the post reads February 5 has been declared a day of mourning in Borova community, according to the Borova Village Council in Izium district Residents of the village of Pidlyman from this community were among those killed in the strike on Izium Two sisters: Nechvolod (Zhalpis) Oleksandra Arturivna leaving behind a one-year-old son without a mother; Nechvolod Angelina Arturivna They were all near the premises of the State Migration Service," the Village Council administration stated six other residents of Borova community from the villages of Pidlyman and Pidvysoke were injured in the explosion "All of them sustained injuries of varying severity One man is in critical condition," the community reported the Village Council clarified that three employees of the accounting department of the Borova Municipal Utility Service were also injured "Due to the escalation of hostilities near Borova the accounting department of the Borova Municipal Utility Service was temporarily relocated to Izium Three women from the village of Borova suffered injuries Two of them received medical assistance and returned home One woman remains in the hospital," the community stated the Russian forces launched an Iskander ballistic missile at the central part of the town of Izium in Kharkiv region The strike partially destroyed the administrative building of the Izium Town Council and shattered the windows of three residential apartment buildings Most of the victims were employees of various institutions This was reported on Telegram by Head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration Oleh Syniehubov "Three people are in extremely critical condition a total of seven people have been hospitalized but the number may increase," Syniehubov said the total number of victims has risen to 38 "The missile's flight time was very short leaving people with no time to reach shelters," Syniehubov noted The State Emergency Service reported on Facebook that search and rescue operations at the site of the enemy missile strike have been completed the Russian forces launched a ballistic missile strike on the central part of Izium damaging other government offices and residential buildings This was reported by the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office in Telegram “It was quickly established that the Iskander-M ballistic missile that hit the center of Izium on February 4 was launched from the territory of a military training ground in the Rostov region of the Russian Federation Law enforcers are taking all measures to identify the highest military and political commanders who ordered the missile strike and the direct perpetrators of this crime The investigation is ongoing,” said Spartak Borysenko Head of the Department for Combating Crimes Committed in the Context of Armed Conflict of the Regional Prosecutor's Office As reported by Ukrinform, around 11:40 a.m. on February 4, the Russian army struck the central part of the city of Izium in Kharkiv region with an Iskander ballistic missile “There was an air raid alert, but the time between it and the strike was so short that people didn’t have time to reach the shelter,” said Oleh Syniehubov, Kharkiv Oblast governor.   Gwara Media has been to Izium to document the aftermath of the Russian attack.  Five people killed in the Russian attack on Izium were three men, aged 43, 61, and 68, and two women, 18 and 19. A 19-year-old woman was pregnant. The rescue operation to get the bodies trapped from under the debris lasted several hours.  Syniehubov said that there was a 14-year-old girl among three people who were severely injured. They are currently hospitalized.  Prosecutor’s Office estimates that Russia hit the city with Iskander-M missile. The attack damaged several administrative and residential buildings. Syniehubov stressed that there were no military presence in the area.  Izium is a city to the southeast of Kharkiv region that was occupied by Russia at the beginning of the full-scale invasion in 2022 and liberated during the Kharkiv counteroffensive.  Posted by | Feb 5, 2025 | 0 Tuesday’s Coverage: Trump Wants Rare Earth Minerals In Return for Aid Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced the return of 150 Ukrainian prisoners of war The released POWs included members of the Navy Some had been held captive for more than two years Moscow announced the freeing of 150 Russian troops in the exchange Today is a good day for all of us. We are bringing home 150 of our defenders from Russian captivity. These are soldiers, sergeants, and officers – warriors of the Navy who were taken prisoner in Mariupol and the Zaporizhzhia region, warriors of the Air Force, Air Assault Forces,… pic.twitter.com/FScWB1303p — Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 5, 2025 A drone strike has set ablaze the oil depot in Novominskaya in the Krasnodar region in southwest Russia around 250 km (155 miles) from the Ukrainian frontlines set several oil storage tanks on fire just before 1:30 a.m Russian officials claimed any fire was from “falling debris” but video on social media shows a direct strike Fire erupted at the Novominsk oil depot in Russia's Krasnodar Krai after a night drone attack Although regional head Kondratiev said a drone attack of the "Kyiv authorities, was repelled and falling drone wreckage was to blame, Russian MoD mentions only 2 drones shot down in… pic.twitter.com/8y0XMYQxou — Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) February 5, 2025 European and US shipowners have sold at least 230 ageing tankers into Russia’s “shadow fleet” used to evade oil sanctions The Dutch investigative outlet Follow the Money established that owners made more than $6 billion selling their vessels into countries that have not sanctioned Russia such as India Owners from 21 of the 35 countries that have placed sanctions on the oil trade with Russia have sold tankers Greek owners sold 127; UK companies 22; and German and Norwegian owners 11 and 8 Most of the tankers would otherwise have been sold for scrap at a fraction of the price the EU required companies selling vessels to third countries to check they were not used to circumvent sanctions 32 European-owned tankers have been sold into the shadow fleet since then Individual tankers are now barred from EU ports and services if found to be transporting Russian oil or involved in “dangerous shipping practices” Around 70 have been put under sanctions by the bloc There are no reported plans to introduce specific measures outlawing the sale of vessels into the shadow fleet partly because of resistance from member states with shipping sectors such as Greece The European Union says international lawyers have “laid the foundations” for a special tribunal to try Russia for the crime of aggression The EU executive said Russian political and military leaders “who bear the greatest responsibility” will be held to account The tribunal’s creation was proposed by Ukraine days after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 EU foreign policy head Kaja Kallas told reporters: There is no doubt that Putin has committed the crime of aggression which is deciding to attack another country there wouldn’t be any killings on the ground There wouldn’t be any attacks on civilian infrastructure Kallas said the aim of the tribunal would be “putting pressure” on Putin and the regime “to really stop this war and also to give a clear signal to other aggressors or would-be aggressors who are or may be contemplating attacking neighboring countries” But in a compromise to advance the process Putin and senior figures will not be prosecuted while in office They had been held up over whether Putin and other Russian leaders should be granted immunity At least eight civilians have been killed and at least 70 injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day The Russians launched 104 drones overnight and 42 were lost to electronic counter-measures The Russians also launched two ballistic missiles one of which killed five civilians and injured 55 in Izyum in northeast Ukraine (see Original Entry) One was slain in the Kherson region in the south Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has hosted International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi The two men discussed Russia’s occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant since the early days of the 35-month invasion Zelensky urged the IAEA to be “more actively involved at other critical facilities of our energy system” I met with IAEA Director General @rafaelmgrossi The respective IAEA missions are currently operating in Ukraine—at nuclear power plants We agreed that the missions will also be more actively involved at other critical facilities of our energy system We also discussed with… pic.twitter.com/7VxdkHxu6A — Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 4, 2025 Greenpeace Ukraine called on the IAEA to “take immediate action to stop Russia’s illegal plans to restart the reactors” at Zaporizhzhia announced the intention to restart the reactors “as fast as possible” Russia’s “director” of the complex followed up on December 25 with the declaration that new pumping station equipment was being manufactured to provide cooling water from the Dnipro River for operations Grossi visited the Kyivska Electrical Substation in the Kyiv region to assess damage from Russian strikes He emphasized that a direct strike on the substation or a disruption of the power supply could cause a nuclear accident Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeated his call for “real guarantees” of security for Ukraine NATO ensures that Putin is highly unlikely to invade again NATO also strengthens its own security with hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian troops NATO membership for Ukraine is a guarantee that we will not seek revenge through war That’s why I said NATO is a guarantee for all—stable and more cost-effective — Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 4, 2025 fighting not only against [Vladimir] Putin but also for the continued support of our allies.” He emphasized the need for continued US aid with any reduction also threatening a disruption to European assistance Zelensky estimated Russia’s “immense losses” at 300,000 to 350,000 troops killed they will claim they’re ready for direct talks with President Trump that this is a global war between Russia and NATO and that they will only negotiate with the U.S But this is just another excuse to prolong the war Putin’s only goal is for Ukraine to cease to exist The President put Ukraine’s losses at 45,100 people killed and 390,000 injured Among the wounded from Tuesday’s attack are a six-year-old boy and two girls aged 14 and 16 Four people were killed immediately by the strike Rescue services recovered the body of a fifth victim from rubble Izyum was seized by Russia in early April 2022 in the first weeks of the full-scale invasion It was liberated in September by a Ukrainian counter-offensive Kyiv’s forces found 471 bodies of people slain during the Russian occupation Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky posted soon after the attack: As of now, we know there are casualties – twenty people have been injured. Tragically, five people have died. My condolences to the families… pic.twitter.com/HaZUg8bNOc — Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 4, 2025 Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" Subscribe to our email list to receive a weekly selection of stories published by EA WorldView during the previous week Designed by Elegant Themes | Powered by WordPress Izium in Kharkiv region was hit by massive airstrikes using kamikaze drones on March 24. As a result of the attack by the Russians, a fire broke out in the city, according to the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration "Izium is under attack by Russian drones," the official stated late Monday He noted that strikes were recorded from fourteen enemy drones a fire broke out in civilian non-residential infrastructure," the head of the regional military administration reported The official added that there is currently no information about possible casualties He urged local residents to stay in shelters Earlier reports indicated that on the evening of March 24 Russian invaders launched kamikaze drones towards Ukraine air alerts were declared in several regions Reports mentioned the operation of air defense forces in response to drone strikes in some areas stated that the Russians are attempting to equip Shahed kamikaze drones with Chinese 16-channel antennas intending to bypass Ukrainian radio-electronic warfare systems It was also reported in February that Russia continues to modernize its Shahed drones including equipping them with a new type of warhead Izium was heavily damaged during Russia's invasion of Ukraine The city was occupied by Russian forces in 2022 but was liberated by Ukrainian forces in the autumn of the same year Russian forces have continuously attacked this frontline city For instance, on the evening of March 15, Russian forces attacked Izium with drones resulting in one death and several injuries Also, on February 4, Russians shelled the city of Izium it was reported that four people were killed and around 20 were injured it was confirmed that the number of injured increased to 50 Russian troops fired a ballistic missile at the center of Izium targeting administrative buildings and residential houses Read all the information about the consequences of the Russian attack on Izium in the report below The explosion in Izium occurred at about 11:34 a.m Air Force warned of the threat of enemy ballistic missiles from the east Later it became known that Russian troops had launched a missile attack on the city center According to the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration Another administrative building nearby was damaged as well as multi-story residential buildings “There is no military object in this place,” said Syniehubov Izium Mayor Valerii Marchenko told Suspilne that these are buildings where people used to work Russia killed 5 people in the attack on Izium Rescuers pulled some bodies from the rubble Among them is a 15-year-old girl who received a shrapnel wound Three more people are in the operating room doctors are providing all the necessary assistance information on the number of victims is constantly updated According to President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy a rescue operation is underway after a Russian missile strike on the city Russian attack destroyed part of the city council building Maximum pressure must be applied to Russia – through military force and diplomacy – to stop the terror and protect lives,” Zelenskyy said The footage was released by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine They noted that search and rescue operations at the site of the impact have been completed the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration showed the photos of the almost destroyed city council building Izium is the center of the Izium district of the Kharkiv region at the foot of Mount Kremianets on the winding bank of the Siverskyi Donets it has been temporarily occupied by Russian troops during their full-scale invasion The city is important to the Russians because it is located in the southeast of the region on the strategic M-03 (E-40) highway which connects Kharkiv with Sloviansk in the neighboring Donetsk region the city was de-occupied as part of the Slobozhansk counter-offensive an operation that allowed Ukrainian soldiers to enter Russia's rear and liberate a large number of territories Izium had about 10,000 residents out of the more than 46,000 who had lived there before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine a mass grave for more than 440 people was discovered in the city and 22 bodies found in this mass grave in a forest belt remain unidentified According to preliminary estimates by local authorities 80% of the buildings in Izium were damaged or destroyed as a result of active hostilities Sources: head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration Oleh Syniehubov the statement of the mayor of Izium Valerii Marchenko to Suspilne Anger over collaboration with Putin’s forces is causing a deep rift among locals in Izium He used to feel an overwhelming rush of emotions when he saw them he tries to conserve his energy and nerves and ignore them and they think they’re not guilty of anything But I think they’re criminals and should go to jail,” said Grygorenko editor-in-chief of the local weekly newspaper Izium Horizons More than a year after the Russians retreated from Izium More than 5,000 houses and 120 apartment blocks have been damaged or destroyed bridges and other critical infrastructure remain out of action and that’s in the absolute best-case scenario,” the city’s mayor said in an interview at his temporary office the 160 days of Russian occupation left an insidious psychological legacy that may take just as long to heal It’s hinted at by the phone number daubed on walls throughout the town in white paint The number is for a hotline run by the Ukrainian SBU security service an invitation to provide information on who did what during the dark days of occupation the SBU has opened cases against 30 people in Izium for collaboration including a headteacher who agreed to cooperate with the Russians But nobody doubts that more than 30 local people helped the Russians run the town and legally they cannot be accused of anything although they were collaborating,” said Marchenko A phlegmatic local politician with few airs, Marchenko said he is understanding of people who helped provide essential services to the city during the occupation. But he cannot forgive teachers who agreed to teach the Russian curriculum. “If they were ready to tell our kids that Ukraine never existed Where the legal lines that define collaboration should be drawn and what scale of punishments there should be is one of the most sensitive questions for Ukraine today It is a dilemma that Europeans have not had to grapple with on this scale since the aftermath of the second world war and it will only become more relevant if the Ukrainian army manages to free more territory from Russian rule there is a maximum of two degrees of separation between most residents When Marchenko or Grygorenko talk of collaborators walking freely through the streets Kostiantyn Grygorenko Photograph: Oleg Solokha/The ObserverThe febrile atmosphere is exacerbated by another social divide hewn over the past two years: the rift between those who left for other parts of Ukraine or abroad before the occupation Marchenko and his administration sat out the months of Russian rule in Ukrainian-controlled territory an hour’s drive away a decision that many locals consider a dereliction of duty “The captain is meant to leave the ship last instead this lot scarpered like rats and left us all to drown,” hissed one elderly woman who was picking up a package of food aid in the central square and answered a question on the topic with a sigh “We would have been either killed or forced to collaborate if we had stayed,” he said The mutual distrust between those who stayed and those who left is never far from the surface The remainers resent the leavers for abandoning them; the leavers view those who stayed behind with suspicion Every person can be an unreliable narrator; every story can be told in many different ways I’m not sure if I fully trust anyone who stayed behind,” Grygorenko admitted that Ukraine would not be able to hold Izium Grygorenko gathered a few possessions and sped out of town before the Russians arrived He spent the next months in western Ukraine filing online updates for Izium Horizons whenever he gleaned new information from recent evacuees or Russian Telegram channels Kalyuzhnyi spent the first night of heavy fighting sheltering with his wife in the cold damp basement of the Izium Horizons newsroom then moved into the cellar of a nearby church where the couple sat out the next few weeks enduring terrifying booms that shook the foundations Moscow’s forces took full control of Izium at the end of March A mysterious military commander with the call-sign Shere Khan named after the tiger in Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book Civilian control was entrusted to Vladislav Sokolov a former police chief who had been working in security for a bank before the occupation The Russians ruled mainly through fear. A mass burial site discovered in a forested area next to a cemetery on the outskirts of the city after the Russians left contained more than 400 bodies But there were also plenty of older Izium locals nostalgic for their youth and the Soviet past With the phone and internet cut off in the town which the Russians filled with old-fashioned propaganda a woman who paced the streets calling out “news”: Zelenskiy has abandoned the city; Russia will be here for ever an A4 freesheet that extolled the benefits of the “new epoch” of Russian rule an Izium local known to be an eccentric communist took charge of official communications and was on the hunt for cadres to help spread the Russian gospel summoning him to the local administration to ask him to lend his decades of journalistic experience to the Izium Telegraph a wry raconteur with a knack for spinning a long yarn wrote his first lines of journalism during military service in the Soviet army in the late 1970s He then worked at various army and factory titles before joining Izium Horizons exactly the sort of Ukrainian the Russians had assumed would greet them with a warm embrace But Kalyuzhnyi is a fierce Ukrainian patriot “It was only later I realised what thin ice I’d been walking on what was happening to other people who they thought were pro-Ukrainian,” he recalled The captain is meant to leave the ship last instead this lot scarpered like rats and left us all to drownIzium residentOne day a poet and artist who had drawn the cityscape silhouette that Izium Horizons used for its logo Kalyuzhnyi had known Sipkov for years; they had both attended a monthly literary salon where Izium’s intelligentsia gathered to discuss novels and poetry We would often have arguments and everyone would leave red-faced it all seemed completely theoretical,” remembered Kalyuzhnyi Sipkov told him he’d offered his services to the Izium Telegraph and beseeched his old friend to join the Russian propaganda effort too Hundreds of local supporters fled with them but did offer a short monologue before hanging up: “My husband did nothing wrong and now our lives are ruined and our family is torn apart I have no money and I am sitting here with nothing This phone call is probably a provocation by the security services Olga German is a glass-half-full kind of person Walking down the shattered streets of Izium she tries to keep the ruins and devastation that remind her of the awful experience of occupation out of focus and direct her gaze instead on colourful street art installations She runs dance therapy classes to help traumatised children she dresses in bright colours and wears her hair in pigtails tied with yellow-blue bands But even she concedes that remaining positive is not so easy “We are all still mourning at some level,” she said German stayed in Izium throughout the occupation because she wanted to be with her parents and resents being tarred with the brush of suspicion by those who left there were traitors but it doesn’t mean most people supported the Russians Even the president told people they should stay in their homes I don’t like it if you left because you had an opportunity to and then you judge people who stayed,” she said Everyone who remained has traumatic memories, especially from the first month of fighting, when the town was pummelled with shelling, missiles and Russian airstrikes. One airstrike in March killed 47 people, slicing through a residential block. Later, Ukrainian forces also targeted occupied Izium, sometimes with cluster munitions in the house where she has lived since 1972 when a Grad rocket slammed into her garden on 9 March last year The explosion sent glass and furniture flying and set the house on fire the pair moved into a scruffy downstairs room in a neighbouring house has needed full-time care since he developed fluid on the brain after meningitis aged four Liubov could not easily move him to the basement so they stayed above ground throughout the fighting Liubov Prykhodko and her son Anatoliy whose house in Izium caught fire after a missile struck their garden Photograph: Oleg Solokha/The ObserverThere is a well in Liubov’s garden and word got around that she was happy to share her water with anyone who needed it Neighbours told Liubov it was too risky for her to leave the house – there would be nobody to look after Anatoliy if she were killed – so they rummaged and bartered for supplies for her and delivered them when they came for water I have never experienced anything like it,” she said in an interview in the small room where she is still living with Anatoliy more than a year later both the physical damage and psychological trauma from those months continue to define Liubov’s life She cursed the Russians for destroying her modest home and had little better to say about locals who suspect anyone who stayed in Izium of collaboration as Anatoliy rocked silently on his chair in the corner Izium Horizons is up and running again now although the handsome two-storey building that was once the newsroom was squatted in and ransacked by Russian soldiers and the paper now operates out of a tiny office in a municipal building A recent issue ran a list of more than 100 street names that have been changed in Izium as part of a nationwide “de-Russification” process Lermontov Street has been renamed after the Chechen independence leader Dzhokhar Dudayev The street where Grygorenko lives has gone from bearing the name of Soviet bard Vladimir Vysotsky to that of Steve Jobs “We don’t want anything to remind us of the country that occupied us and we want to start from a clean page,” said Marchenko But it is easier to change a street name than to change what’s inside people’s heads “Even after all this death and destruction I feel there are some people who are still waiting for Putin to come back,” said Grygorenko If there is one thing everyone can agree on it is that something of remarkable significance happened during the five months of occupation The tragic interlude dissolved the mundanities of everyday life and forced people to reveal something more profound about themselves Kalyuzhnyi plans to type up diaries he wrote in his basement He calls it the “final journalistic task” of his career Grygorenko is also working on a book about the occupation and its aftermath “We have lived through historic times,” he said “The kind of times we only read about before in history books.” This is the archive of The Observer up until 21/04/2025 The Observer is now owned and operated by Tortoise Media Which language would you like to use this site in Reacting to the reported discovery of a mass burial site containing the bodies of Ukrainian civilians and military in a forest near the town of Izium which the Ukrainian army recaptured following months of Russian occupation Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia “Back in March, Amnesty International sounded the alarm bell over the fate of civilians in Izium which had been under relentless attack by Russian forces since day four of Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine These newly reported discoveries confirm our darkest fears The people of Ukraine and the world deserve to know how exactly those buried in the forest near Izium have died For every unlawful killing or other war crime there must be justice and reparation for victims and their families and a fair trial and accountability for suspected perpetrators “We reiterate our call for the international community to provide resources to assist Ukraine in securing evidence and conducting the necessary investigations into how these people died and who was responsible Those who commit or order crimes under international law should remember: there is no statute of limitation To ensure justice and reparation for victims trials of those suspected of war crimes must adhere to international standards for fair trial.” After retaking control of Izium in Kharkiv region the Ukrainian authorities announced that they had discovered an improvised grave site in a nearby forest where they counted more than 440 recent burials Ukraine’s Commissioner for Missing Persons the grave site was hastily dug to deal with numerous casualties including from heavy shelling of the town by the Russian forces in February and March 2022 Photographs and testimonies sourced by journalists from the area are consistent with this report Journalists reported that several wooden crosses on the graves bear names of those presumed to be buried beneath including one on a mass grave indicating that 17 Ukrainian soldiers are buried there If you are talented and passionate about human rights then Amnesty International wants to hear from you Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was ready to negotiate with Russian leader Vladimir Putin The Russian army launched a ballistic missile attack on the town of Izium in the Kharkiv region Zelenskyy was asked whether he could sit at the same table with Putin if a potential peace process involving four groups were to begin Zelenskyy said he is ready to do so if it is the only way to bring peace to Ukrainian citizens and avoid further loss of lives Read all the information about the consequences of the Russian attack on Izium in the report. South Korean intelligence released intelligence data confirming that the North Korean soldiers, who had been fighting alongside Russian forces against Ukraine, were withdrawn from the front lines and the likely reason for this action was heavy losses The United States has not yet discussed with Ukraine the necessity of holding elections by the end of 2025 if the team of US President Donald Trump raises this issue states Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United States Zelenskyy reminded that Ukraine has transitioned to F-16s marking one of the fastest shifts to a new type of aircraft among all countries “We also expect French fighter jets in our skies will definitely strengthen our defense,” the head of state noted Civilians in Izium in Kharkiv Region in eastern Ukraine are on the brink of a humanitarian disaster as Russian forces relentlessly bombard the town new testimony gathered by Amnesty International has revealed Residents of Izium have been under a constant siege-like situation since 28 February and warned that diminishing food and water supplies have left them at breaking point as remaining civilians hide in their basements Amnesty International interviewed 26 residents of Izium immediately after their evacuation to Svyatohirsk a town in Donetsk Region that largely remains under Ukrainian control and has been under incessant Russian fire The testimonies we have gathered from Izium reveal the terror experienced by the town’s civilian population “Dozens of small towns and villages in Ukraine are under relentless attack with their desperate inhabitants finding themselves caught in the crossfire or under siege by attacking Russian forces,” said Marie Struthers “The testimonies we have gathered from Izium reveal the terror experienced by the town’s civilian population trapped in their basements with almost no food or water “Izium and other towns on the frontline now urgently need humanitarian corridors to enable the safe evacuation of civilians wishing to leave and the delivery of humanitarian supplies to reach those who remain behind.” Reports of Russian military attacks on Izium first appeared on 28 February and the town has been exposed to constant rocket fire since 3 March Amnesty International’s Crisis Evidence Lab reviewed and verified several photos and videos shared by residents of Izium that showed extensive damage to residential areas Most of the town’s residential areas are cut off from electricity and mobile communication as a result of attacks According to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office which also caused significant damage to the town’s central hospital Further casualties have been reported since that time Interviewees told Amnesty International that Russian forces carried out attacks that have killed and injured civilians and destroyed or damaged civilian infrastructure Some of the attacks appear to have been indiscriminate Satellite imagery from 12 March reviewed by Amnesty International clearly showed craters and damage close to locations reported by open street maps as children’s schools and hospitals has been living in Izium since relocating from Donetsk which has been controlled by Russian-backed armed groups since 2014 She told Amnesty International: “When they began to bomb us rockets were being shot… If this continues for a few more days the people and the town will be finished off.” Since the attacks began and several grocery stores were closed or destroyed Izium’s population has been completely dependent on humanitarian aid and personal food supplies heating and any form of communication has been cut and they are also suffering due to lack of sanitation and water shortage who stayed in a shelter in the town with her five-month-old baby there were three five-litre containers left for 55 people I don’t know how they are going to survive.” Humanitarian aid and bread have been delivered to the town sporadically due to shortages and the ongoing lack of communications mainly those hiding in larger bomb shelters Interviewees told Amnesty International that people who lived in residential neighbourhoods in individual family houses were struggling to access food as their neighbourhoods were among the most damaged and most houses had no basement or just a very small basement to seek safety and get some eggs from the hens… Our child was hungry and jam… We couldn’t get any other food anywhere; we couldn’t leave our house Two interviewees said they were caught in crossfire as battle raged in the town’s populated urban setting One man said that several Ukrainian fighters – who would be considered lawful targets of attack under the rules of war – were based in one of the flats in their building which came under attack Other Izium residents told Amnesty International that there were no military bases or other military objectives in the vicinity of their bombed-out neighbourhoods constant strikes and indirect fire meant that local authorities were able to evacuate only 250 people from Izium local volunteers and activists used private cars to evacuate civilians primarily older people and people with disabilities International humanitarian law prohibits deliberate attacks on civilians and civilian objects as well as indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks Russian forces must take all feasible precautions to spare civilians and civilian objects Ukrainian forces should also take all feasible precautions to protect the civilian population and civilian objects under their control from the effects of attacks they should avoid operating from civilian neighbourhoods where they could draw fire that results in harm to civilians and civilian objects people in Ukraine are facing a catastrophic human rights crisis Take action to demand that the Russian authorities stop this act of aggression and protect civilians now The Russian army launched a missile strike on the city of Izium in the Kharkiv region. As a result of the attack, two people were injured, according to the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, Oleh Syniehubov Syniehubov reported that later in the evening Russian forces struck Ukrainian territory again a 35-year-old man and a 32-year-old woman were injured They have been hospitalized," the head of the Regional Military Administration said a private house was also damaged as a result of the enemy's attack Vladimir Matsokin, Deputy Mayor of Izium for Humanitarian Affairs, reported that a child was also injured in the Russian strike their 7-year-old child was also brought to the hospital "As a result of the enemy attack on the city and their 7-year-old child were delivered to the hospital All necessary medical assistance is being provided," he said The city of Izium was heavily damaged during Russia's invasion of Ukraine the settlement was occupied by the Russian army the Ukrainian Armed Forces liberated Izium from the Russian invaders Izium in the Kharkiv region was subjected to massive airstrikes As a result of the attack by Russian forces, a fire broke out in the city. More details about the shelling can be found in the RBC-Ukraine material We also reported that Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie expressed her support for 14-year-old Polina from Izium who sustained serious injuries in the wake of a Russian attack On the evening of March 15, the Russian army attacked the city of Izium in the Kharkiv region using drones. One person was killed, and several others were injured, including teenagers, according to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SES) "The enemy attacked the city of Izium in the Kharkiv region last night with strike UAVs," the statement said three hits were recorded in the private residential sector Consequences of the shelling of the city of Izium the shelling caused fires in residential buildings covering areas of 80 and 200 square meters Firefighters from the State Emergency Service (SES) quickly extinguished the fires serving as the administrative center of the Izium district in the Kharkiv region The city suffered severe damage during Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine Izium was occupied by Russian forces but was later liberated by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the autumn of the same year For instance, on February 4, Russian troops shelled Izium again reports mentioned four dead and around 20 wounded the number of casualties continued to rise As the Ukrainian city’s five-month ordeal ends the evidence of dead bodies and survivors’ testimonies suggests Izium could be another Bucha horrors of Russian occupation are revealedThis article is more than 2 years oldAs the Ukrainian city’s five-month ordeal ends They sat him on an office chair and attached a zig-zag crocodile clip to his finger It was connected by cable to an old-fashioned Soviet military field telephone This sent an excruciating pulse through Maksimov’s body I was unable to hear in my left ear,” he recalled I came round 40 minutes later back in my cell.” The Russian army occupied the police station in April This followed a furious month-long battle with Ukrainian forces who had based themselves on a hill next to Izium’s Soviet war memorial the soldiers rounded up anyone suspected of having pro-Ukrainian views He had stayed behind to look after his elderly mother home guard volunteers and city hall officials The Russians turned up with a list of names Some local politicians appear to have collaborated They included several city council deputies and a retired police chief Vladislav Sokolov who became Izium’s new pro-Vladimir Putin “mayor” Residents were unable to say how many people vanished during Russia’s five-month occupation of the city One answer could be found on Saturday in a sunny pine forest on the outskirts of town Ukrainian forensic experts were carrying out a gruesome process of exhumation and truth-telling Wooden crosses mark graves of people who have died since the Russian invasion began and were buried at the extension of a cemetery near Izium Photograph: Daniel Carde/The ObserverA Russian battalion had parked its tanks next to a cemetery cutting down branches and building underground shelters with neat log roofs Izium’s war dead – 443 people since February – joined them in nearby sandy plots They were dug up on Friday from a scooped-out hollow for a tank Ukraine’s armed forces discovered the grisly site when they swept into Izium a week ago, as part of a stunning counter-offensive that saw them recapture almost the entire north-eastern Kharkiv region Some had their hands bound together; on the decayed arm of a woman was a bracelet in Ukrainian blue-and-yellow colours experts in white boiler suits continued digging pulled out bodies and laid them carefully in a glade identifiable from his camouflage trousers and boots Then two civilians – one possibly female – and another soldier But we don’t have names for many of those here We found individuals with hands tied together and broken limbs.” But he stressed: “It’s too early to say if this is another Bucha.” Maksim Maksimov displays wounds from where he was bound while he was in captivity and held in a police station in Izium Photograph: Daniel Carde/The ObserverThe site smelled strongly of human decay and pine resin Relatives said Russian missiles killed their loved ones Oxsana Gruzodub had come to report the deaths of her daughter-in-law’s family They died on 9 March when a Russian warplane bombed their apartment block was searching for the spot where his wife Svetlana was interred in grave number 333 A cluster bomb killed her on 16 May on the street wandered past police tape and eventually located the spot Svetlana – like the others – would be dug up next week and sent to a laboratory in Kharkiv Showing the Observer around the shattered centre of Izium A group of young Russian conscripts arrested him in March soon after they took up positions on the edge of town next to the reed-lined Siverskyi Donets river They grabbed him as he went over the city’s pedestrian bridge The soldiers told him they had come from Belarus the Ukrainians shelled the riverside building where he was being kept Publisher Maksim Maksimov shows the room in a police station where he was tortured during the Russian occupation of Izium Photograph: Daniel Carde/The ObserverHe was detained for a second time on 3 September by soldiers who accused him of being a Ukrainian spy The guards came from the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR) These separatist auxiliaries brought the prisoners cold soup twice a day Three rats lived on a ledge next to a window Maksimov shared a cell with two other local men the guards said the Ukrainians were coming and threatened to throw a grenade into their chamber other LNR warders appeared and told them to run About a quarter of Izium’s 60,000 inhabitants lived under Russian rule A third of those sympathised with the occupiers The Russians swapped diesel for home-made vodka The city lived with little food and no electricity The publisher said he had not expected the Russian army to leave Izium without a fight BMP infantry fighting vehicles and rows of mortars Ukrainian troops rolled around Izium in these former Russian war-machines hastily repainted with a plus sign and the Ukrainian flag In the space of a few days, Ukrainian forces liberated an area half the size of Wales, retaking more than 300 settlements and pushing the enemy back to a new defensive line about 10 miles east of Izium which was key to the Kremlin’s plan to seize the Donbas Its loss means there is now little prospect of this happening soon As the Russians retreat, however, the price paid by civilians grows clearer. Russian soldiers rounded up and executed hundreds of civilians in February and March in Bucha and other satellite towns in the Kyiv region. The latest mass grave in Izium suggests this was not an anomaly. Rather, it is part of a savage pattern seen in each area Moscow occupies. Ukrainian officials say they have found at least 10 torture chambers in other newly liberated towns including Vovchansk, right on the border with Russia, Kupiansk and Balakliia. “Russians wore masks and tortured civilians with bare electric wires,” said Andriy Nebytov, the head of the national police’s main directorate in the Kyiv region. The Kremlin claims its forces are “regrouping”, and has responded to military setbacks by ordering attacks on critical civilian infrastructure. Last week, Russian war-planes fired missiles at a dam and reservoir in Kryvyi Rih, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s hometown, causing extensive flooding. They also targeted Kharkiv’s electricity station, plunging the city into darkness. Read moreMost of Izium has been destroyed The main boulevard is full of gutted apartment blocks and walls pockmarked by bullets The administration building is an eerie sandbagged ruin A bomb tore a chunk out of a church’s cupola delivered in the central square that was once used for celebrations Women wheel shopping trollies past a mural of John Lennon The city’s beer factory remains closed but a cafe reopened on Saturday “You look at all this and think we don’t have a future,” Maksimov said A resident tells his son of constant shelling bodies piling up and Russian soldiers on the hunt Izyum, south-east of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine has become a focus for the Russian military as it retreats from territory around Kyiv in northern Ukraine The city once of 40,000 people is a gateway to the Donbas region It has been a battleground since the start of the war and although on Friday it fell to Russian forces residents and military officials say intense fighting continues close to the city “For three weeks there has been no civilisation The city has been brought to ruins and intentionally so,” said Volodymyr Matsokin who has left the city but is working nearby and speaks to residents regularly This is the story of one family in the city Names have been changed to protect sources from possible Russian reprisals “Yesterday morning started with hell,” my father told me when he called from Izyum last week “There were as many bombs as there have been in the past month Even now when I tried to call you it’s going on.” Like all the residents of the occupied city has survived for three weeks without electricity He spends 15 minutes a day trying to “catch” the unstable mobile phone connection to call me His house is now surrounded by trenches and destroyed houses and his new neighbours are Russian soldiers They have prepared a list of individuals to “hunt” My father observed one hunt for a local businessman who had already escaped when the raiding party arrived To survive he takes water from the neighbours’ well lives off preserves and dried food supplies and usually cooks on an open fire He abandoned his bed at the start of the war and now sleeps in a corner of the house where he feels more protected by walls I sleep under two duvets and take the cat with me,” he told me You just hear it half a second before it lands,” he said Half the neighbours’ house has been destroyed there is not a single building still standing Authorities describe a list of war crimes recounted by those who have fled which match reports from other parts of Ukraine Russian soldiers have been accused of rape killing civilians and looting shops and homes Many of Izyum’s residents are hiding in their basements Rescue workers do not have the right equipment to get people out after attacks There is nowhere to bury those who are found “Some corpses are buried in the central park or near to the people’s houses and in gardens Bodies were taken there at first but now it is too full,” Matsokin said “I have seen three armed vehicles full of corpses There were bodies even lying on the roofs,” my father said With the fighting and the Russian checkpoints barring passage of humanitarian convoys The hospital has been partly destroyed and people with diabetes or cancer cannot get treatment I haven’t seen them for two months or spoken to them for a month They lived in a Ukrainian-controlled area but moved to the occupied part to stay with other family members who live there they were sure that Russia would never attack At least 5,000 people need to be evacuated from the city but there is no safe way to escape any more and the only crossing left is a partly destroyed footbridge “I feel like it will take months to stop the war,” my father said during our last call Digital Reconstruction Highlights Russian Forces' Deadly Attack (Kyiv, March 22, 2023) – Russian forces used a large air-delivered munition on an apartment building on March 9, 2022, in Izium, eastern Ukraine in an attack that killed at least 44 civilians and violated the laws of war Human Rights Watch said today in a web report The report, “A Thousand Explosions in My Ears,” uses survivor testimony, photos, videos, and 3D modeling of the building at 2 Pershotravneva Street to show the devastating effects of the attack – one of the single deadliest for civilians since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Dozens of civilians were sheltering in the basement and while the building was close to the front lines Human Rights Watch found no evidence that Ukrainian forces were using the building for military purposes at the time “Generations of families in the basement were entombed by this single attack,” said Richard Weir senior crisis and conflict researcher at Human Rights Watch “We found no evidence to justify treating the apartment building as a legitimate military target or that Russian forces tried to avoid or minimize the destruction of so many civilian lives.” and 3D modeling to show the devastating effects of an attack by Russian forces on a residential apartment building in eastern Ukraine The report details the attack and tells the story of Mykhailo Yatsentiuk an electrician in his sixties who had lived in the building with his wife raising three children and six grandchildren Yatsentiuk survived because he left the basement to make his granddaughter tea The five-story building is in Izium’s central district which Ukrainian forces had control of until late March It is close to the Donets River and a strategic footbridge there were sustained hostilities in the area Russian forces took full control of the city by the end of the month and occupied it and the surrounding area for nearly six months little was known about the attack that destroyed 2 Pershotravneva Street until Ukrainian forces retook control of the area in September Human Rights Watch interviewed 21 people from Izium Human Rights Watch also inspected physical evidence at the scene Ukrainian forces were in the general area around the building as they attempted to keep Russian forces from the center of the city One witness saw Ukrainian forces moving along the street next to the building a few days before the attack and firing from near the footbridge Survivors and local residents said that Russian military fixed-wing aircraft had been constantly flying overhead in the days before the attack most likely by Russian ground forces firing from across the river and 2 Pershotravneva had been hit and damaged to the best of Human Rights Watch’s knowledge two buildings including 2 Pershotravneva Street took direct hits from air-delivered munitions The second building was another multi-story apartment building across the street from 2 Pershotravneva to the southeast Human Rights Watch did not investigate this attack but emergency responders and local residents said that there were three known casualties two of whom were said to be Ukrainian forces Survivors and witnesses of the attack on 2 Pershotravneva said the attack happened around 9 a.m and that dozens of the building’s residents and others from the surrounding area had sought shelter in the basement An emergency worker who was in the area said that he heard aircraft and explosions after 8:30 a.m The munition struck the middle of the building collapsing all five stories of the central part onto the basement The rubble buried many of the people in the basement Human Rights Watch determined that the attack resulted in a hole at least 15 meters wide in the building Witnesses who were in the basement or lower floors said they had not seen Ukrainian forces in or directly around the building just before or at the time of the attack One local resident who had been in the basement said others there saw Ukrainian soldiers come into the basement days earlier and ask the building manager for keys to the attic to check it During inspections of the building and its premises Human Rights Watch found no signs of established Ukrainian firing positions None of the residents interviewed said they saw or heard firing from the building In three locations in the eastern portion of the building researchers found more than a dozen expended casings from small arms projectiles most on two interior stairwell landings on lower floors It was not possible to determine who fired this ammunition or how it got there Russian forces came into the building occasionally to take food supplies from the apartments he said he saw them bring small boxes into the building and the resident said he later saw expended casings in the stairwell and on a windowsill in the building Two emergency services workers said that fighting in the area prevented them from starting recovery efforts until late March They spent about a month digging bodies out of the rubble at first with bare hands and then with equipment and that they did not discover any small arms or light weapons there The emergency workers and three witnesses to the attack who were there for some said they did not see any bodies in military uniforms The Ukrainian parliament commissioner for human rights, Dmytro Lubinets, said 54 people were killed Human Rights Watch obtained three lists of those who died or remain missing and a list of personal possessions found at the site Based on interviews with witnesses and those who recovered bodies Human Rights Watch corroborated the deaths of at least 44 people that number is most likely higher because some bodies could not be identified and some bodies had been buried before the emergency workers’ exhumations Human Rights Watch was not able to identify the type of weapon used in the attack because most of the remnants were apparently buried in the rubble or removed by Ukrainian authorities the extensive but relatively contained destruction of the partially collapsed building is consistent with the use of a large A delayed-action fuze means the munition is set to detonate after it hits the target so it could have penetrated the multiple floors of the building before detonating Human Rights Watch wrote to the Russian defense minister summarizing the findings and asking for information including whether any Russian authorities were investigating the attack Human Rights Watch has not received a response warring parties must always distinguish between combatants and civilians They must also take all feasible precautions to minimize harm to civilians including by providing effective advance warnings of attacks which use a method or means of combat that fails to distinguish between military objectives and civilians or civilian objects in which the expected harm to civilians and civilian property is excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military gain anticipated The use of explosive weapons with wide-area effects in populated areas heightens concerns of unlawful These weapons have a large destructive radius and their use should be avoided in populated areas Anyone who commits serious violations of the laws of war, such as indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks, with criminal intent – that is, deliberately or recklessly – is responsible for war crimes “The survivors and victims’ family members deserve answers and justice,” Weir said “The devastation and pain will never be erased but accountability can help enforce that these kinds of acts will not be tolerated.” Rights Violations against Migrants and Asylum Seekers at the New Eastern Border of the European Union Get updates on human rights issues from around the globe Human Rights Watch is a 501(C)(3) nonprofit registered in the US under EIN: 13-2875808 Hollywood actress and UN Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie has expressed her support for 14-year-old Polina from the Kharkiv region, who was seriously injured in a Russian strike on Izium, according to the government organization United24 Polina is currently undergoing rehabilitation at the Kyiv Children's Hospital Okhmatdyt where doctors are making every effort to help her regain her ability to walk the girl shared her dream of meeting Angelina Jolie initiated by Volodymyr Zelenskyy to raise funds to support Ukraine partially helped make this dream come true Polina received a personal note from the actress and had the opportunity to chat with her online “And while Ukrainian doctors are working on making that come true we tried our best to help realize her second dream: to meet Angelina Jolie They talked online and Polina received a special note from Angelina,” the statement reads Russian troops carried out a ballistic missile attack on Izium It destroyed the city council building and damaged high-rise buildings Five people were killed and 55 people were injured Angelina Jolie visited Ukraine in April 2022 after which she chatted with locals at the central station and took a few photos with the crowd This issue is preventing our website from loading properly. 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LOGIN Downloadable PDFs are a benefit of an FP subscription This article is an Insider exclusive Contact us at [email protected] to learn about upgrade options unlocking the ability to gift this article Ukraine—His hands were tied before they killed him The rope was still around his wrists when investigators pulled his badly decomposed body from a mass grave discovered last week on the edge of the city of Izyum in eastern Ukraine Officials know little about him yet other than he was perhaps a soldier just a blackened mulch of cloth and putrid flesh but a police investigator found a crucifix around his neck “That will help us identify him,” the investigator said taking a moment to compose himself under the weight of the task ahead of him As Russian troops retreated from the Kharkiv region last week in the face of a relentless Ukrainian counteroffensive they left behind chilling signs of the horrors Ukrainians suffered during almost seven months of occupation Locals speak of those who went missing and of people who were tortured; many citizens fear the proof will be found in a mass burial site discovered in the northeast of the city It was hidden among tall pine trees in a wood where families once enjoyed barbecues Body bags are taken to refrigerated containers following an exhumation in Izyum on Sept Officials say there are around 440 individual graves at the site as well as one mass pit holding at least 17 bodies thought to belong to soldiers It was found just days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Izyum meeting soldiers and raising the flag over the newly reclaimed city The sandy graves are marked with rough wooden crosses and Foreign Policy watched as police and public prosecution investigators pulled the first 40 bodies from the ground not least because of the acrid smell of death There were almost immediately signs of possible war crimes: As well as the soldier with tied hands officials said a civilian was found with broken arms and a rope around his neck more bodies have been discovered with signs of possible torture the uncovering of another mass grave underlines the cost of Russia’s war on the territories it occupies: All of the dead are believed to have been killed since the invasion many due to Russian bombardment or a lack of access to medicine and health care were five members of one family killed during Russia’s spring advance: a mother Another civilian with family in the mass grave is Gregory Ivanovitch an Izyum resident since the 1960s whose wife was killed in an explosion in March as they both ran to their shelter It was winter and so cold outside that the ground was hard—it took five days to dig a hole deep enough to bury her It was painful to lay Ludmila to rest in his garden but he took solace from the fact that he was able to give her local and religious rites Russian soldiers came with volunteers and said they were under orders to move her to the woods and I will take a gun and kill you,’ I screamed at them,” he said “But they moved her anyway.” He said most of the families whose dead were relocated were not given a say in what happened to them but they were told only that there were orders to clear the city of unofficial graves once the bodies in Izyum’s mass grave have been exhumed—a process predicted to take about two weeks—they will be examined to determine the cause of death and identified through DNA samples “Then we’ll decide what to do to bury these people with the dignity they deserve,” he said “I urge the world to recognize this is the genocide of the Ukrainian people … If you also take into account the destruction of the city Izyum could compare as Irpin plus Bucha and multiplied by three,” Synyehubov said A worker rests at a burial site in Izyum on Sept The battle-scarred Kyiv suburb of Irpin has come to stand as an example of Ukrainian resistance and of Russian defeat after it was liberated in late March a key strategic city around 2 hours from Kharkiv that was occupied in early April suffered almost a month of heavy fighting as Russians pushed to take it attacks on the city did not stop until Ukraine’s lightning-fast counteroffensive to retake the Kharkiv region saw it liberated on Sept the Kharkiv offensive showed the extent of Ukrainian grit as well as the fact that Russia can be pushed back Hinged on new Western weaponry and the threat of the Kherson operation drawing Russian reinforcements south it took just a few days to push Moscow’s forces back to a new defensive line about 10 miles east of Izyum had been crucial to the Kremlin’s goal of seizing the entirety of the Donbas A local resident walks along a damaged square after Russia’s retreat from Izyum on Sept Signposts to the recent battle are hard to miss on the road that leads to Izyum from Kharkiv: a stalled Russian tank burned-out cars emblazoned with a “Z,” and stacks of ammunition boxes left to the wind and rain Missiles stick out of the road while a number of the trees that once lined the way are snapped and burned Hardly a building in the city is left undamaged with the main administration office charred and blocks of residential apartments left with gaping holes In one March airstrike alone, 47 people were killed in a five-story apartment building It’s believed some of their bodies may have ended up in the temporary graveyard in the woods All the tears have gone,” said survivor Serhiy Shtanko who was at the temporary cemetery on Friday looking for news of his loved ones or electricity for most of the last six months Residents hadn’t known the scale of Russia’s occupation of the country and they had not expected their small town of almost 46,000 people (before the war) to hit international headlines Sitting on a bench enjoying her first outing since March with her daughter and friends local resident Tatayana Tevetkov said her family was among the first to see Ukrainian troops arrive in the city Ukrainian soldiers stand atop a tank on the outskirts of Izyum on Sept A member of the Ukrainian Special Operations Forces records information on damaged buildings in Izyum on Sept “When three vehicles arrived carrying our guys Even the dogs came out and started lying in the street again,” the 32-year-old said The kids can play outside and can hopefully go to school.”  Residents said they were barely able to leave the house during the occupation and that the only food they had was what they had in stock or grew in their gardens “The Russians gave us two cans of meat a month to eat they started selling what was supposed to be humanitarian aid donations from their cars,” said Oksana who requested not to use her full name because she has family in the military but many of those individuals fled across the border when Kyiv’s troops came Others disappeared for more sinister reasons Ukrainian officials say they have found at least 10 torture chambers in the newly liberated towns including in nearby Kupiansk and Balakliia Ukrainian police officers rest during work exhuming bodies at a mass burial site in Izyum on Sept “My friend was captured because he was in the military in the past,” Tatyana said who added that he got a letter asking him to come to the police department “Maybe they released him when they retreated “Anyone accused of being in the Ukrainian army would be taken You can see now in the woods what probably happened to them.” Liz Cookman is a journalist based in Ukraine covering the human cost of the war. 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