Deputy PM Vereshchuk: Some bodies exhumed in Izium already identified
Iryna Vereshchuk, Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, said this during the nationwide telethon.
Vereshchuk noted that she talked with Commissioner for Missing Persons Oleh Kotenko, who is currently in Izium, every day.
"He tells terrible things, it's true. Exhumation is carried out, then identification, some bodies have already been identified. Relatives of those identified, who took DNA tests, are informed. It is a very difficult process and I am very sorry that people receive such data. But, unfortunately, we see this terrible number of people, graves, mass graves, tortured civilians," Vereshchuk said.
She also emphasized that the world community should react to mass crimes against the Ukrainian people and recognize Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism.
"I will never believe that there can be such callous and heartless leaders who dare to say that this is not genocide, who dare to say that this is not a terrorist state. I hope that democracy and civilized principles will prevail," the Deputy PM stressed.
As reported, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that more than 400 bodies, including those with signs of torture, had been found in a mass grave in liberated Izium. Children and military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are among those identified.
As of September 16, law enforcement officers discovered 10 torture chambers in the territories liberated from the Russians in Kharkiv region. Six of them were found in Izium.
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