Ukraine says it has evidence of a mass grave in Izyum, the northeastern city recently freed from Russian occupation.
Regional police head Volodymyr Tymoshko told newsmen that more than 400 bodies were thought to have been buried there.
“Russia leaves death everywhere,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said, mentioning other reported mass graves found after Russian troops’ withdrawal.
It is not yet clear what happened to the victims, but some accounts have suggested many may have died from bombing and a lack of access to healthcare.
There are also signs that some of the graves could belong to Ukrainian soldiers.
Mr Tymoshko said exhumations would begin on Friday to get a clearer picture of the number of victims in the city, which was under Russian occupation for more than five months.
And in his address late on Thursday, President Zelensky said more “clear, verified information” would be presented on Friday to Ukrainian and foreign journalists.
“We want the world to know what is really happening and what the Russian occupation has led to. Bucha, Mariupol, now, unfortunately, Izyum,” he said.
The Ukrainian leader was referring to alleged mass graves found this spring in Bucha, near the capital Kyiv, and also near Mariupol – the key south-eastern Ukrainian port now occupied by Russian troops.
Andriy Yermak, the head of President Zelensky’s office, tweeted a photo of the alleged mass grave, also saying that more information was expected on Friday.
Much of Izyum lies in ruins, with one local politician telling reporters that up to 80 per cent of the town’s infrastructure is already destroyed, and bodies are still being discovered in the rubbles.
Izyum and a number of other cities in the Kharkiv region were liberated earlier this month during a swift Ukrainian counter-offensive that appeared to have surprised Russian troops and left them unprepared to defend their positions.
Ukraine says it has identified more than 21,000 possible war crimes – including killing civilians and rape – committed by Russian troops since President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of the country on 24 February.
BBC/ Oluwayemisi Owonikoko
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