Exhumation works continue in Izyum, Kharkiv Region, and are expected to take two more weeks, Izyum mayor Valeriy Marchenko has said on the TV marathon, Espreso reported.
He said the bodies are being taken to Kharkiv for examination.
"Employees of all services are exhuming and digging up the buried. If possible, they are identified and sent to Kharkiv for further work. This work will be carried out for almost two weeks, because there are so many burials. So far no new ones have been found, but it said that there are some, that's why they are looking for them," he explained.
As of 18 September, up to 15,000 residents are remaining in the city, while those who have left are beginning to return, Marchenko said.
"At present, 13,000-15,000 residents remain in Izyum. Before 24 February there had been more than 45,000. But now people are beginning to return, not en masse. They will not all return, many have nowhere to live - bombed and damaged flats and houses. There is winter ahead. There will be light in the city in a fortnight at most, now efforts are being taken to restore gas supply to the city because there is no gas. But this mostly concerns private houses. In a month, there will be 25,000-30,000 people in Izyum," Marchenko said.
Police have exhumed 59 bodies in Izyum, the process continues.
Earlier, about 500 bodies of people with traces of violent death and torture were found in a forest in Izyum. Ukraine and the world are already comparing the atrocities of the Russians in Izyum to the tragedies of Bucha, Mariupol and many other places in the occupied territories.