Nfter the Russian occupation of Kherson ended, Ukrainian police found evidence of alleged crimes there, as in other liberated areas. Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyj said on Ukrainian television on Wednesday evening that people had been held captive in eleven places. In four of these places there is evidence that prisoners have been tortured. Investigators secured evidence there and questioned witnesses. Bodies would also be exhumed.
“So far, 63 bodies have been found in the Kherson region,” said Monastyrskyj. “But we have to be aware that the search has only just begun and many more torture chambers and burial sites are still being discovered.” There were initially no independent confirmations. However, torture chambers and graves of the murdered were also found in the Kyiv and Kharkiv regions when they came back under Ukrainian control.
Air alert throughout Ukraine
Under pressure from the Ukrainian army, the Russian occupiers evacuated the regional capital of Cherson in early November and retreated to the southern bank of the Dnipro River. Many roads and buildings, most notably the regional police headquarters, were left mined, Ukraine’s Interior Minister said. During the defusing of the bombs, Ukrainian ordnance clearance personnel had already been killed or injured.
