75 dead during Russian occupation of Kharkiv region still not identified - National Police
In the Kharkiv region, 75 people who died during the Russian occupation have not been identified, most of them from burials in the Izium forest.
This was announced by the head of the Investigation Department of the National Police in the Kharkiv region Serhii Bolvinov, Censor.NET reports citing Ukrinform.
"We currently have information about 75 killed people who have not been identified. Yes, most of these people are from the mass grave site. Let me remind you that we exhumed 448 bodies there, which were simply thrown into the ground and buried without coffins or any packages... This is a huge number. And the work of identification is quite complicated. It is not only for Kharkiv police or Ukrainian police in general, it is complicated and time-consuming all over the world," Bolvinov said.
According to him, 52 of the total 75 people are from the Izium burial site.
"But we know where and who found the body of each person, under what circumstances, when they were buried. We draw a map of the body's movement from the point of discovery to the place of burial for each victim. Legally, they are all considered unidentified. But for 26 of them, we have an understanding of who they might be. However, we have no DNA matches. There are different stories. For example, the family went abroad, and close relatives still cannot give us a DNA sample. That is, there are certain procedures, and they are in process. In some cases, there are no DNA matches because the sample for comparison was provided by a distant relative," explained the head of the investigation.
In addition to the dead from the Izium grave, there are bodies found in other places about which nothing is known at all.
"There are bodies that were found in the woods, and they are in a very bad condition. I am very grateful to the forensic experts for their daily hard work, because they are trying to bring the number of unidentified bodies to zero. Because without understanding who this dead person is, further investigation of his death is impossible," Bolvinov said.
According to the police, from February 24, 2022 to November 5 this year, 2750 civilians, including 95 children, died as a result of the actions of the Russian army in the Kharkiv region.
As a reminder, after the liberation of Izium in September 2022, a mass grave was discovered in the forest on the outskirts of the town. Law enforcement officers exhumed 448 bodies (including more than 20 soldiers and several children). Most people died as a result of shelling of the city.
