Investigators looking to identify and return slain Ukrainians to their families have been met with hidden explosives placed into the bodies by Russian soldiers.
The explosives have caused major delays in getting repatriated bodies back to their families for proper burials.
Taras Tarasenko, deputy head of the investigative department at the Kirovohrad Region Police Department, told Ukrinform that mandatory safety checks have been enacted before investigators can begin identification work.
‘First of all, we check whether there are any items that may pose a danger. Such cases have occurred more than once. We have found explosive objects, grenades and other things, so we work as carefully as possible,’ he said.
Kirovohrad is the home of the Centre for the Search for Missing Persons in Special Circumstances and the Identification of Unidentified Bodies of Servicemen.
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The bodies of hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers and citizens arrive daily, with the team of 32 working around the clock to ensure they can be returned to their families.
Russia was previously found to be hiding its own slain soldiers and sending their remains back to Ukraine in Ukrainian uniforms – in a bid to avoid compensating the families of the slain Russian soldiers.
Other Ukrainians have been returned home, missing internal organs and with signs of obvious torture.
Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna was captured in 2023 in Zaporizhzhia and tortured by Russian troops.
Investigators found severe bruises, abrasions, broken bones and signs of electric shock being used.
Shockingly, Roshchyna’s brain, eyes and trachea were found to be missing during her autopsy back home.
Previously, dozens of men from military units under Russia’s command who were ‘enablers’ of unspeakable war crimes in eastern Ukraine were identified.
The occupation of Izium, 30 miles from the border with Russia, laid bare the levels of cruelty that Vladimir Putin’s troops are capable of.
Some 436 bodies – mostly of women and children – were exhumed from a forest just outside Izium, days after it was recaptured by the Ukrainian military.
At least 30 had signs of torture, with some pulled out with ropes around their necks, tied hands, broken limbs, and burn wounds. Several men had their genitals cut off.
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