Liberation of Izyum rips mask off Russian propaganda and reveals full horror of its war crimes

I’m sitting down to write this with an extremely heavy heart. I can’t really explain what half-year-long grief feels like. All Ukrainians, those of us still here, are living every single day with unbearable, just heartbreaking, paralysing grief.

One would think that by now we’ve learned to cope, that we’ve already seen so much that — at the very least — we would be numb to news and know exactly how to keep our feelings in check.

And we do. No matter what we do, we live and function. Every day we live our lives, we stay strong as a nation and fight for our freedom, our country and our future, while emotions are all-consuming and mourning is always present.

But then comes the time when we have to stop, if just for a short while, and let the profound sadness and prolonged grief take over.

Over the past couple of weeks, the brave men and women of our armed forces have liberated many villages and towns occupied by the murderous Russian troops and, though we’re celebrating saving those who survived, we know exactly what the Russian terrorists have left behind.

Today I want to tell you about Izyum. Or rather, I’ll show you exactly what the inhumane, diabolical and barbaric Russian war looks like.

I’ll show you the genocide of Ukrainians.

Before we start, I want to take a moment to explain to you exactly why we are seeing these war crimes and terrorist acts committed by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s army. There’s only one reason: no one was ever supposed to find out and no one was ever supposed to see all of this.

The Izyum massacre

Mass exhumation scenes from a pine forest at the edge of Izyum where Ukrainian emergency service workers have been uncovering makeshift graves. (Image: Supplied)

Mass exhumation scenes from a pine forest at the edge of Izyum where Ukrainian emergency service workers have been uncovering makeshift graves. (Image: Supplied)

Mass exhumation scenes from a pine forest at the edge of Izyum where Ukrainian emergency service workers have been uncovering makeshift graves. (Image: Supplied)

Mass exhumation scenes from a pine forest at the edge of Izyum where Ukrainian emergency service workers have been uncovering makeshift graves. (Image: Supplied)

Mass exhumation scenes from a pine forest at the edge of Izyum where Ukrainian emergency service workers have been uncovering makeshift graves. (Image: Supplied)

Mass exhumation scenes from a pine forest at the edge of Izyum where Ukrainian emergency service workers have been uncovering makeshift graves. (Image: Supplied)

Mass exhumation scenes from a pine forest at the edge of Izyum where Ukrainian emergency service workers have been uncovering makeshift graves. (Image: Supplied)

Mass exhumation scenes from a pine forest at the edge of Izyum where Ukrainian emergency service workers have been uncovering makeshift graves. (Image: Supplied)

Mass exhumation scenes from a pine forest at the edge of Izyum where Ukrainian emergency service workers have been uncovering makeshift graves. (Image: Supplied)