A satellite image shows the expansion of new graves at a cemetery in Vynohradne near Mariupol, Ukraine, March 29. (Maxar Technologies/Reuters)
A third mass grave has been found near Mariupol, the mayor of the besieged southeastern city told Ukrainian television on Tuesday.
In addition to the uncovered mass graves in the villages of Mangush and Vynohradne, “we now see that there is another one,” said Vadym Boichenko.
New satellite images have shown a mass grave in the village of Staryi Krym, according to the Telegram channel of the city authorities.
The pictures showed dug ditches on the territory of the Old Crimean Cemetery, the city council announced via telegram.
They emerged on March 24 after the village was occupied by the Russians and were about 60 to 70 meters long, the council said.
By April 7, according to new images, part of the trenches were covered, the council said, and the burial site had grown.
“New trenches were dug on April 24. The length of the mass grave has increased to over 200 meters,” it said.
Boichenko accused the Russian armed forces of involving the local population in mass burials in exchange for food.
“She [the locals] told us that you have to work ‘hours’ to have food and water. Now there is not enough humanitarian aid in Mariupol, so people are forced to do it,” he said on Telegram.
CNN cannot confirm the city’s report on the mass graves. The Planet Labs images were first reported by Radio Free Europe (RFE/RL) on Monday.
CNN has reviewed satellite imagery allegedly showing mass graves at Vynohradne, but it’s unclear what may have happened there, aside from disturbing the ground.
Last week, Ukrainian officials identified the location of mass graves in Manhush, near Mariupol, after the release of satellite imagery collected and analyzed by Maxar Technologies.
Petro Andriushchenko, an adviser to the Mariupol mayor, reported on the mass grave in Manhush on Telegram on Thursday.
“As a result of a long search and identification of places of mass burial of the dead residents of Mariupol, we have established the fact of arrangement and mass burial of the dead residents of Mariupol in the village of Manhush,” he wrote.
Andriushchenko – who is not in Mariupol but has served as a clearing house for information from inside the besieged city – said Russian forces have dug several mass graves in Manhush, a city around 12, each measuring about 30 meters (about 100 feet) measures miles (20 km) west of Mariupol.
On Tuesday, Boichenko reiterated that about 20,000 Mariupol residents had died since the invasion began.
“The situation in Mariupol remains extremely difficult,” he said. “Enemy artillery is shelling our Azovstal fortress,” the steelworks where Ukrainian troops and civilians are holed up.
“There are women and children inside. A ceasefire is necessary to begin the evacuation. Unfortunately, there is no ceasefire,” said Boichenko. “People are running out of food, there is almost no drinking water. This is a humanitarian catastrophe.”