Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Bodies of dead Russian soldiers abandoned near Kyiv

Bodies of dead Russian soldiers abandoned near Kyiv

When their dogs started digging insistently at a spot in the woods, villagers in Zavalivka called in the authorities.
A Ukrainian military team was soon at the scene in white protective suits, carefully removing the topsoil.

They uncovered a man's body, face down with his legs oddly twisted beneath him. It was clear from his uniform that he was a Russian soldier.

Weeks after they failed to seize Ukraine's capital, the remains of Russian troops are still being discovered in and around the villages they passed through or occupied near the capital, Kyiv. But Ukraine says Russia shows little interest in getting them back.

From the grave in the woods, the body was removed to a refrigerated train on the outskirts of Kyiv that now operates as a mobile morgue for the Russian dead.

The white plastic sacks are marked with numbers rather than names and there were at least 137 stacked inside two carriages on the day we visited.

The Ukrainians attempt to identify the dead: on the body just brought in, the forensics team turned up two bank cards, as well as badges for a Russian motorised rifle brigade.

"At least this one has a chance of getting home," the man in charge announced, displaying the finds, including a soiled fragment of T-shirt printed with the Army of Russia logo.

Moments later, I confirmed that the man I had just seen exhumed had been a young, married soldier from Siberia. Next to his body bag, a carefully posed black-and-white photograph from his social media profile stared out from my phone.

Russia has a proud slogan: "We don't abandon our own." It's a big part of President Vladimir Putin's supposed justification for invading Ukraine, where he falsely claimed Russian-speakers needed protection.

That pledge appears not to apply so much to Russia's own soldiers.

"The bodies we've found show they treat people as rubbish, as cannon fodder," Col Volodymyr Liamzin told the BBC. "They don't need their soldiers. They throw them here, retreat - and leave the bodies."

We don't actually know how the young soldier in the woods came to be abandoned. The villagers in Zavalivka say they were mostly hiding in their cellars from shelling at the time - they assume he was injured and got lost as his unit was forced to retreat.

From what we've learned of the Russian troops fighting around Kyiv, many were young and inexperienced. It's likely they were fleeing under fire.

"We did do one swap," Col Liamzin says, explaining that the Russian side provided a shortlist of the dead soldiers it wanted returned.

"We're ready to give them all back, we want our own dead returned too. We knock on every door there is, but there is no response, no dialogue," the colonel says.

The delay in collecting bodies isn't unique to Russia.

Neither side in this war is open about the number of casualties suffered. We've spoken to several Ukrainian families who say their own government has been less than helpful in recovering the remains of Ukrainian soldiers from the battlefield.

One woman, who was told of her husband's death by the men in his unit, said she had been trying to recover his body for almost three months.

But the Russian dead are being discovered here all the time.

Just up the road from Zavalivka in Sytnyaky, the village elder told us at least 10 Russian soldiers were killed and left behind in March, probably more.

Their column was ambushed after they lost their way: the locals had removed and switched the traffic signs.

The battle was fierce. What was once a roadside restaurant at the spot is now a heap of rubble, a bit of wall and a giant aquarium that somehow survived the assault.

Leaflets in the ruins call on Russian soldiers to surrender and save their lives, and spare the blood of Ukrainian children.

The village elder says he and others buried the Russians after the battle "for sanitary reasons". When I look quizzical, he says most were blown to pieces.

He wasn't allowed to show us the graves: they constitute a crime scene until Col Liamzin's team can get round to visiting and exhuming the site. But his dig-list is already long.

A local man planting beetroot confirms that the Russians were killed along the main road.

"It's not humane to abandon a soldier, not to bury them," Mikola says, leaning on his spade. His own son is in Ukraine's army.

"My wife felt sorry for the Russians at first, but then we found out what they did here," he adds, referring to the shooting of unarmed civilians in places like Bucha and Irpin.

"No-one feels sorry for the Russians after that."

The burned wrecks of Russian tanks still line all the main roads into Kyiv. Every few seconds, cars stop and families spill out to take photographs, children clambering over the top.

It seems somehow cathartic. The other day, I watched a man working out by lifting a tank barrel up and down, over his head, as though he was doing weights.

But that same day, just a few steps across the road, we spotted human remains on a scorched patch of verge - a charred piece of spine and a fragment of foot - and a sweet, deathly smell when the wind dropped. It was most likely one of the men killed in one of the nearby tanks.

So the refrigerated train in Kyiv is still filling up, and there are more in other cities close to the fighting. For the Ukrainian military who recover and store the bodies, there is little sympathy: the dead are enemy soldiers - invaders.

But in Russia, someone, somewhere must be looking for each one of them.
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Druzhba Pipeline Incident Sparks Geopolitical Tensions
Cost of Opposition Leader Péter Magyar's Economic Plan Revealed
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Budapest Central European Fashion Week Kicks Off
U.S. Celebrates Labor Day
Hungarian National Team Captain Scores Epic Goal
EU is getting aggressive: Four AfD Candidates Die Unexpectedly Ahead of North Rhine-Westphalia Local Elections
Japanese Customer Sways from VW to BYD after “Unbelievable” Test Drive amid Dealership Expansion
Nestlé Removes CEO Laurent Freixe Following Undisclosed Relationship with Subordinate
Pickles are the latest craze among Generation Z in the United States.
Giuliani Seriously Injured in Accident – Trump to Award Him the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Deadline Day Delivers Record £125m Isak Move and Donnarumma to City
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
Lula and Putin Hold Strategic BRICS Discussions Ahead of Trump–Putin Summit
White House Eyes Budapest for Peace Talks
Cave Diving Beneath the Streets of Budapest
Another American Restaurant Chain Opens in Budapest
Hungarian Opposition Politician Supports Ukrainian Commander
Opposition Leader Threatens Media Outlets
American Airlines Adds New Flights to Budapest
F1 Hungarian Grand Prix Wraps Up
WhatsApp is rolling out a feature that looks a lot like Telegram.
U.S. Trade Representative says Washington still negotiating trade deals after court rules tariffs illegal
Von der Leyen says Europe drawing up 'precise' plans to send troops to Ukraine
Kremlin accuses Europe of hindering Trump’s peace efforts in Ukraine
×