Around 200 wooden crosses seen at site near Ukraine's Izium

Crosses with numbers are seen at an improvised cemetery of unidentified civilians and Ukrainian soldiers in the town of Izium
Crosses with numbers are seen at an improvised cemetery of unidentified civilians and Ukrainian soldiers in the town of Izium, recently recently liberated by the Ukrainian Armed Forces during a counteroffensive operation, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine September 15, 2022. REUTERS/Oleksandr Khomenko

IZIUM, Ukraine, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Around 200 wooden crosses were seen on Friday at a site near Izium in northeastern Ukraine, Reuters witnesses said, after authorities announced the discovery of a mass grave in the area recaptured in recent days by Ukrainian forces.

Men in white overalls have begun exhuming bodies at the site, located on the edge of a cemetry in the northwest of Izium, the witnesses said. Some 20 white body bags were visible.

Ukrainian authorities earlier reported the discovery of a mass grave containing around 440 bodies in the city of Izium, a frontline Russian stronghold until Ukraine's counter-offensive across the Kharkiv region during the past week.

(This story was corrected to make clear crosses were seen at site of original mass grave)

Reporting by Reuters Television Writing by Gareth Jones

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