Are we going to discover in Kherson the same mass graves as last April after the liberation of Boutcha? Russian troops, who occupied the part of the Kherson region recently taken over by the Ukrainian army, committed “the same atrocities” there as in other regions of Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed this Sunday evening.
“The bodies of those killed are found: those of civilians and soldiers. In the Kherson region, the Russian army left behind the same atrocities as in other regions of our country, where it was able to enter”, delivered Volodymyr Zelensky in a speech, promising to “lead every murderer before the justice “. The president also announced that 400 Russian “war crimes” have been documented, without specifying whether they only concerned the Kherson region.
The city of Kherson, occupied by the Russians since the start of the war in March, was liberated by kyiv forces on Friday. Putin’s men retreated to the opposite bank of the Dnieper River. Many residents of the city complain that the Russian forces have sown desolation there.
The Russians “took everything with them. They robbed the stores,” said Viktoria Dybovska, a 30-year-old saleswoman. “They cut [l’électricité] three or four days ago, just when they were starting to leave. They simply vanished overnight,” added Antonina Vyssotchenko, 29. “God will punish them all for everything they have done,” said Svitlana Vilna, 47.
Zoo animals, stolen
On Facebook, Oleksandr Todorchuk, founder of UAnimals, an animal rights movement, claimed that the occupants left, taking “most of the animals from the zoo to Crimea (Ukrainian territory annexed by Moscow in 2014, editor’s note), llamas to wolves and squirrels.
On Saturday night, President Zelensky accused Putin’s soldiers of destroying critical infrastructure before fleeing. “We are in the process of restoring communications, Internet, television and we are doing everything possible to restore the supply of electricity and water as quickly as possible,” he said on Sunday. “The resumption of work by the authorities, the police and some private companies is already underway (…). Our presence will be felt. It will be felt by the fact that there is life, ”he further assured.
Several war crimes have already been documented in areas recaptured from the Russians in Ukraine. In particular, mass graves were discovered near the town of Boutcha, northeast of kyiv last April.