Days after Izyum was re-taken from Russia by Ukraine, Ukraine has announced that it has found hundreds of graves outside of the city. The graves were marked with wooden crosses, most were marked with numbers, and were found in a forest outside the city by Ukrainian forces. Authorities are planning on exhuming some of the graves on Friday. 

It is not clear what happened to the victims buried there, but early accounts suggest that some may have died from shelling and lack of access to health care. Ukraine’s national police service said most of the bodies belong to civilians. The police stated that although soldiers are expected to be buried there as well, so far, none have been found. The United Nations is hoping to send a monitoring team to the city in a few days.

Read More: Hundreds of graves found in liberated Izyum city – Ukrainian officials