The events revealed in the Ukrainian city of Izium, in the Kharkov region, after the discovery of more than 440 graves and mass graves in a nearby forest a few days after his liberation by Ukrainian troops, provoked reactions of rejection within the international community and in particular in countries with democratic regimes and promoters of respect for human rights.

One of the first to react to evidence of massacres and torture was US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “We have now seen the reports of this mass grave. Every time we see the Russian tide retreating from the parts of Ukraine it occupied, we see what it leaves in its wake. And this latest discovery of apparently 440 mass graves in Izium reminds us of that,” Blinken told a news conference.

According to him, such acts “should be considered war crimes” and called for as much evidence as possible of the “atrocities they committed”. The Secretary of State stressed that such actions “would amount to war crimes, which I believe is the appropriate framework to examine this.” “I think that’s the way to go, and that’s what happens. I have spoken with people on the ground in Ukraine who are working on documenting evidence and building cases of war crimes and atrocities that have been committed,” he added. Blinken visited to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week, and visited the town of Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv, also the scene of heavy fighting in March and where “thousands of bodies” of civilians were also found, had declared at the time the mayor, who had perished during armed clashes and bombardments by the Russian army.

“Deeply shocked”

His European counterpart, the High Representative for EU Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, assured that the Old Continent is “deeply appalled” by the news coming from Izium and, as he said, “Strongly condemns these atrocities”. “Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has left a trail of bloodshed and destruction. Russia, its political leaders and all those implicated in the continued violations of international and humanitarian law in Ukraine must be held accountableBorrell said in a statement.

For its part, the Czech Republic, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, asked on Saturday for the establishment of an international tribunal to judge “war crimes” committed in Ukraine by Russian forces. “In the 21st century, such attacks on the civilian population are unthinkable and heinous.“, said on Twitter the Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jan Lipavsky. The diplomat called for “all war criminals to be punished” and called for “the rapid creation of a special international tribunal to punish the crime of aggression”.

“I strongly condemn the atrocities committed in Izium, Ukraine, under Russian occupation,” French President Emmanuel Macron also said yesterday. “Perpetrators will be held accountable for their actions. There is no peace without justice,” he stressed. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke on the same social network, denouncing that “reports of mass graves in Izium, Ukraine, are horrific and heartbreaking. Canada condemns these heinous atrocities. We will continue to work with our partners to hold accountable those who perpetrated them and we will continue to be there to help the people of Ukraine.“.

“Slaughter”

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares also deplored what happened in Izium through a statement. “Spain strongly condemns the massacre discovered in the mass grave of Izium, in Ukrainian territory from which Russian troops recently withdrew.” In his own words, the facts must be investigated, because “the death of these people must not go unpunished”.

Dmitro Lubínets, human rights commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine said on Friday that “more than 1,000 people were tortured and killed in the Russian-occupied areas in the Kharkov region”, according to the Russian agency Interfax. advanced that “in the coming days, the exact number of bodies exhumed during the collective burials of Izium will be announced”.

Lubínets released a video yesterday in which he appears against the background of a destroyed residential building in Izium and assured that 54 people perished there in a bombardment, among them, a whole family: “the father born in 1988, his wife in 1991, their little girl in 2016 and their parents”previously found in the tombs thanks to the inscription on the wooden cross placed by acquaintances.

On the other hand, the governor of Kharkov, Oleg Sinegúbov, maintained that 99% of the bodies exhumed in Izium “showed signs of violent death”. “There are several bodies with their hands tied behind their backs and one person was buried with a rope around their neck.. Obviously, these people were tortured and executed. Among those buried there are also children,” Sinegúbov pointed out.