Ukrainian authorities have found evidence of war crimes in Kherson after retaking the key southern city this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday.
“Investigators have already documented more than 400 Russian war crimes, the bodies of both civilians and military personnel are being found,” Zelenskyy said in an address.
“In the Kherson region, the Russian army left behind the same atrocities as in other regions of our country, where it was able to enter.”
Russian forces took Kherson, a major industrial center on the Dnieper River, in the early days of the war as they pushed north from the Crimean Peninsula.
A Ukrainian serviceman walks past a building of a kindergarten damaged during a Russian missile attack in the village of Novooleksandrivka, in Kherson region, Ukraine November 9, 2022.
(REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko)
Equipment of Ukrainian soldiers from artillery batteries at the frontline in Kherson are seen in Kherson, Ukraine on July 15, 2022.
(Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Ukrainians soldiers challenged Russians in the area for months, first with acts of sabotage and more recently with a full-blown counteroffensive that successfully allowed them to retake the city this week.
WITH RUSSIA’S RETREAT FROM KHERSON, RUSSIA AND UKRAINE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO NEGOTIATE PEACE
Russia’s retreat from Kherson marks a major setback for Putin, who moved to annex the region just weeks ago.
Evidence of war crimes has been uncovered in other parts of Ukraine as Russian soldiers pulled back.
Destroyed car is seen on a highway to Kherson city, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kherson region, Ukraine November 11, 2022.
(REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko)
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Hundreds of Ukrainian civilians were found murdered in Bucha, Ukraine, after Russia pulled out of the Kyiv suburb in April. In the eastern city of Izyum, a mass grave site was discovered in September with several burn pits containing around 1,100 partially burned bodies.
