Tens of thousands of people have been heard by the Ukrainian authorities in a case concerning the commission of war crimes in the city of Izium, Kharkiv region.
The head of the War Crimes Investigation Department within the Investigation Department of the National Police of Ukraine, Dmytro Valeriiovych Shevchuk, told AGERPRES that the extensive inquiry aims to clarify the circumstances in which 419 people were killed and buried in a mass grave.
'At present, our focus is on holding commanders accountable for mass killings, as well as for the use of people as human shields. In Izium, 419 deceased persons were identified who had been buried in mass graves. We have carried out hundreds of forensic examinations and thousands of DNA tests. We have questioned tens of thousands of residents who were in the city during the occupation, in order to establish, step by step and in chronological order, how events unfolded and exactly what happened in the city of Izium,' Shevchuk said.
According to him, some of those involved in committing these crimes have been identified and notified that they are suspects in the case.
The judicial authorities in Kyiv are also investigating all cases of the disappearance of numerous Ukrainian citizens.
'In parallel, we are establishing the fate of persons reported missing in special circumstances. For us, this is a very important line of work. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, we have found more than 13,000 people alive and, unfortunately, have confirmed the deaths of over 15,000 people. In the Kyiv region, we have set up a Unified Identification Centre for the systematic handling of repatriated bodies. Investigators, forensic specialists and our international partners are working at this centre on the most complex cases involving the identification of repatriated bodies,' the police officer added.
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