Additional burial pits discovered near MariupolA pit that appears to be a mass burial site has been detected by satellites near the port city of Mariupol in southern Ukraine, the Associated Press reported on the 22nd (local time).
US satellite company Maxa Technologies released a satellite image of several 40-meter-long pits excavated near the cemetery in Vinoradne on the same day. This photo was taken on the 29th of last month.
“This once again confirms that the occupants are collecting, cremating and burying the bodies of the dead in all parts of the city,” Mariupol’s mayor Pyotr Andryushenko said on social media.
Earlier, Maxa Technologies released a satellite image the previous day of a pit that appeared to be for mass burial near a cemetery in the town of Manhu, about 14 kilometers west of Mariupol. More than 300 pits were excavated in two weeks between last month and this month, when Russian troops occupied the village.
The pit measures 180cm wide and 3m high, and Ukraine criticized it as being built by Russia to cover up the massacre of civilians.
Ukraine estimates that the pit found in Manhu is large enough to bury 9,000 bodies.
“This large tomb was built for the dead Mariupol civilians,” said aide Andryushenko. “Russian military forces asked residents to pick up black plastic bags from the streets and carry them to a pit in Manhussi. I saw what was in it,” he said.
Russia did not respond to satellite images of the mass burial site.
Russia announced the day before that it had succeeded in completely capturing Mariupol, a key point in the south.
The city of Mariupol has been turned into ruins due to indiscriminate bombardment by Russian forces.▶ Click here for a larger view
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