The burial site is in a low-lying area masked by natural terrain about 3 kilometers from residential buildings and 2 kilometers from an improvised morgue on Zaporizke Highway where bodies were brought in 2022, the council said. Officials released a satellite map of the site.
Researchers first noticed the area on 2023 satellite photos. They recorded a small ditch that later became a pit and then a mound. The site’s length grew from about 30 meters in May 2022 to about 55 meters in 2024, the council said.
“This indicates that people were barred from approaching the area,” the council said, citing the foundation’s analysis.
“There was no construction there. The trench was dug in early May and filled in during the summer of 2022.”
The Mariupol Destruction and Victims Foundation said the
grave likely contains victims from building No. 127 on Myru Avenue, which was
destroyed in a Russian airstrike, and possibly victims of other heavy strikes
as the mound continued to grow. The foundation said Russian forces may have
transported bodies and debris to sorting sites, then carried out burials.