Mariupol cemetery images show 1,400 graves dug since mid-May 2022
New satellite images show an expanding grave site in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol, according to the report published by the UK-based Centre for Information Resilience (CIR). Investigators at CIR used satellite images to determine that approximately 1,400 new graves were added at the Mariupol Starokrymske cemetery between May 12, 2022, and June 29, 2022. CIR researchers estimate that five times more new graves are being dug each month than before the Russian invasion.
“Our report illustrates the continuing, extreme pressure on civilian life in Ukraine, especially in occupied areas. Makeshift burials and the growing number of graves around Ukraine, particularly in and around occupied areas, is a stark illustration of the civilian death toll following the Russian invasion,” said Benjamin Strick, the director of investigations at CIR.
Russia announced in late May 2022 that it had taken control of Mariupol after a nearly three-month siege that reduced much of the port city to a smoking ruin.
