Bodies lie on the battlefield near the Russian border still

• Ukraine’s National Guard is searching for bodies of servicemen and civilians from both sides.
• The Russian army has been pushed all the way back across the border into Russia.
• But artillery shells still whistle through the air, fired from inside Russia.

There are still bodies on the battlefield, lying in farm fields or inside burned-out tanks as Ukrainian troops swept through Russian-occupied territory this month in a major counteroffensive.

After months of holding this northeastern corner of Ukraine, the Russian army was pushed all the way back across the border into Russia. However, artillery shells continue to whistle through the air, fired from within Russia and landing on Ukrainian territory with resonating thumps and billows of black smoke.

Despite the shelling, a small group of soldiers makes its way along a rutted mud track to the location of a dead Ukrainian combatant, which was discovered by a drone used to search for bodies and shallow graves.

“There is a risk.” “We’re always risking our lives, and at any moment a shell could come in from Russian territory,” said Vitalii, a commander in the National Guard whose men are looking for bodies of servicemen from both sides as well as civilians. He requested to be identified only by his first name for security reasons.

The dead Ukrainian is wrapped in body armour and a helmet, with a cap beneath it to keep the sun out. The body had been there for quite some time.

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They photograph the scene and place the remains in a body bag before continuing on the track to a charred Russian tank. It only takes one of the team members to carry away the body bag containing the Russian’s remains.

Autopsies will be performed, and the locations will be documented and passed on to investigators looking into potential war crimes, according to Vitalii.

Ukrainian forces retook the nearby village of Kozacha Lopan, which is just over a mile from the Russian border.

Vitalii also stated that the team is looking for possible victims of what authorities claim was a makeshift prison where detainees were abused.

Metal bars separate a corner of the dank basement behind the local supermarket to form a large cell. The filthy sleeping bags and duvets reveal three sleeping spots on top of Styrofoam sheets for insulation from the damp bare earth floor. Two black buckets served as toilets in the corner.

Three dilapidated chairs stand around a table a few yards outside the barred cell, cigarette butts and empty husks of pumpkin seeds litter the floor around them.

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