Ukrainians search grave site

Residents of the Ukrainian town of Izium searched for dead relatives in a nearby wooded grave site as emergency workers continued to exhume what they said were hundreds of bodies found after Russian forces were driven from the region, Qazet.az reports according to Reuters.

The causes of death for those at the grave site, discovered last week, have not yet been established, although residents say some died in an airstrike. Ukrainian authorities have said at least one of the bodies had tied hands and rope marks on the neck.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said investigators had discovered new evidence of torture used against the people buried in Izium, one of more than 20 towns retaken in the northeastern Kharkiv region after a lightning advance earlier this month.

"More than 10 torture chambers have already been found in the liberated areas of Kharkiv region, in various cities and towns," Zelenskiy said in a video address late on Saturday.

"Torture was a widespread practice in the occupied territories. That's what the Nazis did - this is what (the Russians) do," he added. "They will answer in the same way - both on the battlefield and in courtrooms."