A mass grave twenty times larger than those discovered in Bucha, Ukraine ha been identified through satellite images released by local authorities.
The mass grave is located in the village of Manhush, which is 12 miles west of Mariupol. It is suspected to contain as many as 9,000 bodies based on the Telegram post of the Mariupol City Council on Friday.
"In the village of Mangush, the occupiers could bury from 3 to 9 thousand Mariupol. This is indicated by a comparison with satellite photos of the burial in Bucha, where 70 people were found. In Maxar photos from April 9, the mass grave sector in Mangush is 20 times larger. The occupiers dug new trenches and filled them with corpses every day throughout April. Our sources report that in such graves the bodies are placed in several layers," the Mariupol City Council said.
The city council then quoted Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko in condemning the Russian military for the genocide they have already committed in his city, which he stressed is the biggest war crime of the 21st century. Boychenko compared Russian President Vladimir Putin to Germany's Adolf Hitler who killed the Jews, Roma, and Slavs. The mayor called Putin's crimes the "new Babyn Yar," as he destroys Ukrainians. He stressed Putin's murder of tens of thousands of Mariupol civilians requires "a strong reaction" from the international community "to stop the genocide."
According to the Mariupol City Council, roughly 5,000 Ukrainians have been buried by the Russian military as of mid-March. This number comprises civilians killed in Mariupol and its suburbs. The council stressed that cautious estimates on the total number of civilians killed by the Russian army in Mariupol "is 22,000 people."
NPR reported that the size of the mass grave has expanded to the size of three football fields or over 1,000 feet in length based on the statement of satellite image provider Maxar Technologies. The expansion is a result of the continuous heavy fire over the past month in Mariupol, which is controlled by Russian forces. The Russian military have been sighted transporting the bodies of the dead from Mariupol to the location of the mass grave.
The body count is said to have reached that high since the Russian military was accused of using chemical weapons. Boychenko revealed previously that transportation of the bodies was done by Russian troops through mobile crematoriums. The mayor said the bodies are first kept in huge storage facilities before they are burned in the trucks and dumped in the mass graves.
Previously, mass graves were also found in Bucha through satellite images from Maxar. Various footages have been compiled by local authorities, which show arbitrary summary executions were made by Russian troops on civilians from Bucha. Documented cases also present similar barbarism in the towns of Irpin and Hostomel.
While NBC News said that the images showed over 200 new graves that are 280 feet long each have appeared by the end of March and were expanded in April. The graves were aligned in linear rows of four sections.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereschuck has announced on Saturday their continuous efforts to evacuate civilians from Mariupol, as per The Christian Post. The evacuation prioritizes women, children, and the elderly. Prior efforts to evacuate civilians have failed since there was no agreement from Russia to do so.
The Ukrainian forces reportedly remain their ground in Mariupol despite being confined to a steel mill together with the rest of the civilians. Putin has not yet ordered his forces to attack the mill but has already declared victorious control of Mariupol.
