Near the port city of Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine, besieged by Russian troops, satellite images indicate a possible mass grave, according to several media.
The American satellite company Maxar released images showing several excavated graves in the suburb of Manhuch, west of Mariupol. Local authorities say thousands of civilians are buried there. Ukrainian President Volodomir Zelensky previously spoke of tens of thousands of deaths in the port city, which has been under siege for weeks.
The Ukrainian figures could not be independently verified. Zelensky has not yet publicly commented on the suspected mass grave. Instead, the information comes from Mariupol City Council and Mayor Vadym Boichenko. They speak of graves for “9,000 bodies” but are no longer on site.
A satellite image of Maxar of Manhuch, located about 20 kilometres west of Mariupol, would show a mass grave at a cemetery that runs parallel to the road. According to a report in the American newspaper The New York Times, which says it has analyzed the images, about 300 excavated graves can be seen. These would have been dug in two weeks between March and April, according to a comparison of the photos’ metadata.