“The world must react” to the discovery of over 440 graves near Izyum and evidence of torture after the city was recaptured from Russian forces, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address on September 16.

Zelensky said evidence of crimes committed by Russians were being collected in the Izyum area. It was “too early” to give the exact number of people buried at a mass burial site near Izyum as the exhumation of bodies was ongoing, he said according to a provided translation. There was evidence that Russians shot at the corpses “just for fun,” Zelensky said.

The Ukrainian president called for the official recognition of Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism and for the strengthening of sanctions against Russia. Credit: Volodymyr Zelensky via Storyful