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Izium graves and Kryvyi Rih flooding: 16 September 2022
Summary
A retrospective on the security picture in Ukraine and across the border on 16 September 2022, after the discovery of mass graves in Izium.
What did the security picture look like on 16 September 2022? It was shaped by the aftermath of Ukraine's recent gains in the Kharkiv region and by continuing strikes on both sides of the border.
On 15 September 2022, Ukrainian police said a mass grave containing more than 440 bodies had been discovered in Izium, a city recently recaptured by Ukrainian forces. The graves were found in woods near the city and held people killed by Russian forces. Ukraine's government believes more than 1,000 civilians died during the battle for Izium and the subsequent Russian occupation. The discovery became part of the wider record of alleged war crimes in the 2022 Ukrainian Kharkiv counteroffensive.
Flooding in Kryvyi Rih
On 14 September 2022, Russian forces launched eight cruise missiles at the dam of the Karachunivske reservoir. The strike caused extensive flooding in Kryvyi Rih and raised the water level of the Inhulets River by 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in).
Fire across the border
On 16 September 2022, Belgorod Oblast's Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov reported that Ukrainian shelling of Valuyki had killed one civilian and injured two others.
Taken together, the reports from 14 to 16 September 2022 show a conflict in which the recapture of territory brought evidence of mass killings to light, infrastructure came under missile attack, and shelling affected civilians on Russian territory as well.
