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Widowed terror finds husband’s makeshift grave after he returns to Ukrainian city for the first time since he was killed in early days of Russian invasion
- Lyudmila Trekushenko sees breaking down at her husband’s makeshift grave
- He was killed in the early days of the Russian invasion in an attack on the city
- She can go to his grave because Russian troops have been expelled
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Overcome with grief, Lyudmila Trekushenko collapses at the makeshift grave of her husband, one of hundreds in the liberated Ukrainian city of Izyum.
The 52-year-old arrived on her bicycle at the spot outside the city, clutching some red roses to place near the wooden cross where Yuri, a lawyer and businessman now lies.
He was killed in the early days of the Russian invasion in an attack on the northeastern city.
Like many others, Lyudmila is only now able to go to his grave as Moscow’s forces have been driven from the area by a Ukrainian counter-offensive.
Overcome with grief, Lyudmila Trekushenko collapses at the makeshift grave of her husband, one of hundreds in the liberated Ukrainian city of Izyum
Teams of researchers spent days in the woods outside the city, where up to 450 graves have been found. Some of those excavated have been found with their hands tied and ropes around their necks, suggesting likely torture, Ukrainian prosecutors say. The bodies of two children were among 146 who were removed on Monday.
Exhausted war crimes investigators have gone to sleep on the ground in the woods between shifts. Izyum fell to Moscow in April. In the five months since, about 1,000 people, including Ukrainian soldiers, have died, authorities said, as a result of “shelling, hunger and lack of medicine.”
The Kiev Ministry of Defense said: “It will take many long and tiring hours for investigators to reveal the extent of the genocide perpetrated by Russian assassins.”
Officials fear the toll in Izyum will be higher than those of towns north of Kiev, which became synonymous with war crimes earlier in the war, such as Irpin and Bucha, where the bodies of civilians were left in the streets.
Teams of researchers spent days in the woods outside the city, where up to 450 graves have been found
Izyum fell to Moscow in April. In the five months since, about 1,000 people, including Ukrainian soldiers, have died, authorities said, as a result of “shelling, hunger and lack of medicine.”
The Kiev Ministry of Defense said: “It will take many long and tiring hours for investigators to reveal the extent of the genocide perpetrated by Russian assassins.” President Putin is pictured above yesterday