The town of Izyum was under Russian occupation from 8 March to 10 September 2022. Throughout this period, it was subjected to relentless shelling but continued to resist. The invading forces destroyed 80% of the city’s infrastructure, leaving it without heating, electricity, water, or mobile communication.
Following the liberation of the settlements in the Izyum United Territorial Community on 15 September 2022, police discovered a burial site containing 423 individual graves and one mass grave where soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine had been buried.
That same day, criminal proceedings were initiated under Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – violation of the laws and customs of war.
402 victims identified
According to Yevhen Sokolov, head of the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office, as of early March 2025, 402 individuals had been identified through molecular genetic analysis.
“Another 46 remain unidentified. For 24 of them, we have biological samples from relatives, but the remaining 22 individuals have not yet been identified,” the prosecutor stated.
Among those identified are 198 civilian men, 211 civilian women, 25 servicemen, seven children, and human remains presumed to belong to seven individuals whose sex has not yet been determined.
Searching for relatives and conducting forensic examinations
Investigative authorities have conducted more than 1,500 molecular genetic tests to identify the victims. According to Lyudmyla Podboy, a senior investigator at the Kharkiv Region Police Investigation Department, DNA profiles have been obtained for all but one of the 448 deceased. The exception is a grave containing only fragments of burnt bones.
“However, during the pre-trial investigation, we were able to establish their identities – a brother and sister who were in a building next to where a shell struck, causing a fire that completely destroyed their apartment,” Podboy explained.
“This is why it is crucial to provide testimony to law enforcement so we can reconstruct the events of the occupation. From June to September 2024, we lived in Izyum, conducting interviews with residents. Some brought personal belongings of the deceased, which we sent for forensic analysis to extract DNA profiles. We also visited impact sites in search of any remaining evidence,” she added.
Podboy emphasised that a major obstacle to the identification process is the lack of information about victims’ relatives and their biological samples.
The prosecutor’s office and investigative authorities have repeatedly urged individuals with missing or deceased relatives in Izyum and the surrounding district to provide DNA samples.
“Many people from Kharkiv Region have gone abroad. At present, we have two fragments belonging to the same person, but the victim’s relative is overseas and has not responded to our attempts to contact her,” the investigator stated.
Where to submit biological samples abroad
There is an opportunity to provide biological samples from abroad. Currently, there are two options. The first is through the State Enterprise Document, which has centres in Europe. A list of countries where samples can be submitted is available on the company’s website. These include Poland, Germany, Spain, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia.
“You need to contact this institution, where they will take a buccal swab and send it to us for molecular genetic testing. At present, this is the easiest and most efficient way,” says Lyudmyla Podboy.
The second option is through the International Commission on Missing Persons. However, this process is more complex. The commission collects the biological sample, conducts its own research, and then sends the loci (a locus is the location of a gene, region, or part of DNA on a chromosome) to the State Research Forensic Centre of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The sample is then added to the Unified Register of Human Genomic Information, where all DNA profiles are stored.
“We can use this information for operational identification,” explained the senior investigator.
First indictments and sentences
Investigating this crime and bringing those responsible to justice is a complex and lengthy process. According to Yevhen Sokolov, law enforcement officers invest significant time and effort in establishing the circumstances of each person’s death after their body is exhumed from the mass grave. This work is essential to holding the perpetrators accountable.
“We determine the causes and circumstances of death and, based on our findings, initiate criminal proceedings,” he explains.
During the examination of bodies from the Izyum mass grave and the necessary forensic analyses, law enforcement identified signs of violent death in 140 individuals:
- Gunshot wounds in 15 people.
- Explosive injuries (shrapnel wounds, severe trauma from air strikes) in 87 people.
- Signs of torture in at least 15 people (rope around the neck, hands tied behind the back, polymer handcuffs, bullet wounds to the knee joints, multiple rib fractures).
- Other indications of violent death (jaw fractures, stab wounds, etc.) in 23 people.
In the remaining cases, the cause of death was either undetermined due to decomposition or classified as non-violent (natural causes).
So far, law enforcement has investigated and submitted to court four criminal proceedings related to 11 criminal offences. This includes eight war crime cases under Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, including the case of Volodymyr Vakulenko, a children’s writer from Kapitolivka who was tortured and murdered.
Additionally, three other cases involve crimes unrelated to war. Despite the occupation, daily life continued, and other criminal offences occurred. Two individuals have been identified for committing premeditated murder, while another has been convicted of causing death by inflicting grievous bodily harm. The verdicts have already been upheld.
Separately, the military department of the Kharkiv Regional Police Investigation Department is conducting a pre-trial investigation into the air strike on a five-storey building on Pershotravneva Street in Izyum on 9 March 2022. According to the prosecutor’s office, more than 29 local residents who died as a result of this Russian attack were exhumed from the mass grave.
“The investigation is ongoing. We are doing everything possible to identify all the victims and bring the perpetrators to justice. None of these deaths would have occurred if not for the full-scale invasion and occupation. People lacked access to medical care, medicine, and food, and were subjected to constant shelling and pressure from the Russian occupiers,” added Yevhen Sokolov, head of the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
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This material was prepared with the support of the INSTITUTE FOR WAR & PEACE REPORTING (IWPR).