Despite the ongoing hostilities, measures to search for the remains of the dead, identify and bury them are being taken in Mariupol. The work of the morgue and the collection of bodies are organized in the city. The experts began documenting the facts of deaths and issuing relevant certificates to relatives.
The events are carried out by the Interdepartmental Commission for the Search for Missing Persons, Burial Places of Deceased in Areas of the Armed Conflict in Donbass, headed by DPR Ombudsman Daria Morozova. It should be reminded that in accordance with the Order of the Head of the DPR No. 99 dated March 28, 2022, the powers of the Commission and its Chairman have been significantly expanded.
It should be noted that employees of the republican bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the General Prosecutors Office, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Department for Social Support for Retired Military Personnel and Patriotic Education under the Head of the DPR, the State Enterprise “Ritual” and the Republican Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination of the DPR Ministry of Health are involved in the work in Mariupol.
Now the collection of bodies is being carried out in the liberated districts of the city, due to the security situation. As the front line changes, the geography of search activities will be expanded.
Both the remains of civilians and military personnel of the AFU are delivered to the morgue. Forensic examinations of the bodies are being carried out here. The identified corpses of civilians are handed over to relatives for burial. Biomaterial is taken for DNA typing from the dead, whose identity has not been established. They are buried under numbers as unknown. In the future, their fate will be determined by conducting a comparative analysis of the DNA of the remains and alleged relatives.
“The fierce hostilities that, through the fault of the Ukrainian side, took place in the residential areas of Mariupol, unfortunately, led to a large number of victims. At the same time, people simply did not have the opportunity to bury the dead in cemeteries. As a result, spontaneous burials appeared, many of the dead remain under the rubble. To identify everyone and bury them in accordance with the canons is the most important task from both humane and humanitarian points of view,” said Daria Morozova.
As for the remains of the AFU servicemen, they will also be buried on the territory of the DPR. This is due to the position of the Ukrainian side, whose representatives refuse to contact the DPR on the issue of transferring the bodies of the dead.
“We were ready to unilaterally hand over to Ukraine the remains of the dead military personnel of the AFU. However, representatives of Kyiv didn’t reply to our initiative. And the situation is similar not only in Mariupol, but also in Volnovakha, as well as in other liberated territories. That is, Kiev, to put it mildly, is not interested in these people and it is absolutely indifferent about the feelings of the wives and mothers of the dead soldiers. And this very clearly shows that Ukrainians gives up their lives for a country for which there are no such concepts as humanism and mercy,” summed up Daria Morozova.
