Victims of Rape, Castration Found During Exhumation in Liberated Izyum

Russian occupying forces tortured a minor girl and a boy and brutally killed them in Izyum, Kharkiv Region, according to the results of an exhumation carried out by Ukrainian law- enforcement agencies.

This was stated by the Head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak, during an online speech he gave on Monday, Nov. 28, at the Possible Scenarios for the Prosecution of Russia for the Crime of Aggression conference.

“The atrocities we are facing are shocking. When our law-enforcement agencies carried out an exhumation in Izyum, they found a minor girl who was first raped and then brutally killed. They found a boy whose genitals were cut off before he was executed. We discover such terrible things every time we liberate a new settlement,” said Yermak.

He underlined that that behind all crimes lie one huge crime – the so-called mother crime of aggression – without the investigation of which and the punishment of the guilty the truth will never be gotten to.

“There is no doubt that Russia bears full responsibility for what was committed. Russian soldiers and their commanders who committed war crimes will be brought to justice. However, this is not enough. Russian officials must be brought to criminal responsibility for the crime of aggression,” he added.

Yermak also said a special international tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine will enable justice to be restored  and punishment to be meted out to those guilty of committing terrible acts.

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According to official information of the Prosecutor-General’s Office of Ukraine, more than 47,900 war crimes were committed and more than 8,400 civilians died, including 440 children, during Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. At least 46,000 houses and tens of thousands of civil infrastructure facilities have been destroyed. Among other things, 1,400 institutions for children have been destroyed and at least 11,400 young Ukrainians taken forcibly out of the country.

Izyum was liberated from Russian occupation on Sept. 10 in the course of a large-scale counter-offensive undertaken by Ukrainian forces in Kharkiv Region. According to the Institute for the Study of War, Russian forces killed and tortured hundreds civilians of civilians during their six-month occupation, and mass graves of Ukrainians were found there.