Uncertainty as Mariupol mass graves increase

• The field of graves northwest of Mariupol holds thousands of victims.
• Since the conflict began, it was bombed by air and ground.
• By May, hundreds of civilians had died and most of the city had been devastated by Russia.

A BBC satellite picture analysis found almost 1,500 additional graves at a mass burial site near Mariupol, Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials and witnesses say the field of graves northwest of the city holds thousands of victims.

Russians prioritized Mariupol, a port city near Russia. Since the conflict began, it was bombed by air and ground. By May, hundreds of civilians had killed and most of the city had been devastated by the Russians.

Since spring, Maxar satellite photographs indicate three mass burial sites near Mariupol—Staryi Krym, Manhush, and Vynohradne—growing.

For BBC Panorama, the Centre for Information Resilience found 1,500 additional burials in Staryi Krym since June. It thinks that over 4,600 graves have been excavated there since the conflict, but it cannot determine how many bodies are buried there.

Ukrainian officials estimate that 5,000-7,000 people died under their bombed homes in Mariupol.

The BBC reported that Mariupol witnesses have seen Russian authorities remove bodies from the wreckage of demolished houses and burying them.

Olga Sagirova’s narrative illustrates Mariupol’s suffering. Russian bombs killed everyone in the house except her. Like many who fled the city, her husband and parents were slaughtered, and she doesn’t know where their bodies are.

In a Mariupol private neighborhood, the 48-year-old accountant lived with her husband Valery in a two-story house with a beautiful garden. Her two adult children lived elsewhere.

Despite the citywide bombardment in early March, her region was peaceful. She and her husband slept in the cellar every night. “My husband attempted to reassure me,” Olga added. “He assured me we’d get through this.”

On the 15th day of the Russian bombardment, a knock came at the door. Olga’s 80-year-old parents were shaking.

Their house burned after being shelled. Olga invited them into her cellar to sleep. She provided them a main home bedroom because they didn’t want to.

Valery left the cellar at 22:30 to relax after the shelling stopped. He promised Olga he would return if anything happened.

A plane woke her at 03:30. The house collapsed on her.

“It happened instantly. My world collapsed “remarked.

“My legs were half-buried. My husband begged, “Olga, assist me, dig me out,” as my hearing slowly returned. ‘Near the stairs’.”

Olga saw Valery six feet distant but could not reach him. He was buried deeper than her.

She could only talk to him. “He started wheezing,” she added. “Then he was silent.”

Alone in the darkness, Olga tried to scream but no-one heard her. A torch approached her. Her neighbors rescued her from the rubble. They returned at sunrise because they couldn’t.

Olga was alone again with her husband, who had said his dying words, buried under the rubble.

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