「移動遺体安置所」　遺棄された多数のロシア兵、ウクライナ軍が収容

【キーウＡＦＰ＝時事】ウクライナの首都キーウ西郊で、軍の特別部隊が森や牧場をくまなく歩き回り、捜していたものを発見した。ロシアの「占領者」の遺体だ。（写真はウクライナの首都キーウ西郊ザワリウカでロシア兵の遺体を収容する法医学捜査班）
　同部隊は数週間前から、首都周辺の野原や森、壊れた建物などに遺棄されたロシア兵を捜し出しては、冷蔵貨車を転用した「移動遺体安置所」に収容している。
　１１日、ロシア兵の遺体を土から掘り起こしたウクライナ兵はＡＦＰに対し、「もし（ロシア軍が）死者の名誉のためにすべきことをしないのならば、われわれが敬意を表して行う」と話した。「敵かどうかは関係ない──われわれは区別しない。これが国際人道法上の規定だ」
　ロシアの侵攻開始以来、キーウ郊外では数週間にわたり激しい戦闘が続いた。ロシア軍は狭い道に阻まれて立ち往生し、ウクライナ軍の反攻を受けた。ロシア軍は３月末に撤退を開始したが、その際自軍兵士の遺体を多数遺棄していったと、ウクライナ側は非難している。
　キーウ西郊のザワリウカでは、防護服を着た法医学捜査班が浅く掘られた墓の周囲に規制線を張って作業に当たっていた。数週間前にウクライナ兵がロシア兵の遺体を埋めたと、近隣住民から情報提供を受けた場所だ。
　ＡＦＰは、ウクライナ軍の案内で捜査班に同行した。
　住民によると、このロシア兵は生前、負傷し住民に水を求めていたが、ロシア軍が撤退前に殺害したという。ＡＦＰは、この情報の真偽を確認できていない。
　一行はシャベルで黒い土を掘った。捜査員の一人が「気を付けて、何かを取り残したり、傷付けたりしないように」と声を掛けた。
　遺体の右腕には、ロシア軍の関係者であることを示す白い帯状の物が巻かれていた。
　捜査班は腐敗が進む兵士の体に触れ、身元特定につながる所持品がないかを確認した後、遺体袋に収めた。

■「移動遺体安置所」
　収容された遺体は、冷蔵貨車に保管される。列車の内部には、すでに多数のロシア兵の遺体が並べられている。
　この移動式の遺体安置所の位置は、機密情報として扱われている。ウクライナ側は、ロシア側に位置を特定されれば、自軍の死者の証拠を隠滅するために空爆される恐れがあると警戒している。
　侵攻開始以来、ウクライナは２万人以上のロシア兵を殺害したと発表している。一方ロシアは３月２５日に、大幅に少ない１３５１人が死亡したと発表したが、以後死者数は公表していない。
　これまでに、ロシア兵約２００人の遺体が収容・保管されている。法医学捜査班によると、大半がキーウ郊外で見つかったという。
　遺体の収容活動を統括する軍幹部の話では、ロシア政府は遺体の返還に全く関心を示していない。一定期間が過ぎてもロシアが引き取らない場合、遺体はウクライナ国内に埋葬されることになるという。
　「身元が判明した者はその名前で、また不明者は無名戦士として埋葬される」と同幹部は述べた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/05/17-12:15）

After combing the forests and meadows west of Kyiv, a special Ukrainian unit finally found what they were searching for ?- the body of a Russian occupier.
For weeks, the team along with similar outfits operating in conjunction with a civil-military cooperation unit have been pulling Russian corpses from the fields, forests, and destroyed structures on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital.
If they (Russian forces) won?t do what they were supposed to do as a matter of honour, then we will do it out of respect for the dead, a soldier going by the call sign Mukhomor told AFP Wednesday just moments after unearthing the body of a slain Russian soldier.
It doesn?t matter if he is the enemy or not -- we don?t judge. These are the rules of international humanitarian law, he added.
The capital's suburbs saw weeks of brutal fighting after Russian forces invaded in February -- only to stall in the narrow lanes and country roads in the city?s outskirts where they were mauled by Ukrainian ambushes.
In late March, the Russians started to retreat, pulling their battered forces back across the border into Belarus, while Ukraine accused the invaders of leaving scores of their dead behind.
- 'He was left' -
In Zavalivka village west of Kyiv, a forensics team cordoned off a shallow grave where nearby residents said a body had been buried by Ukrainian territorial forces weeks ago.
AFP accompanied the team as part of a trip organised by the Ukrainian military.
Locals allege the Russian fighter had been injured and was begging residents for water before being killed by his comrades ahead of the Russian retreat. AFP could not independently verify the claims.
He was left near the shop, covered with a poncho. And then our guys buried him, Zavalivka resident Kateryna Karobchuk, 79, told AFP.
After Ukrainian troops entered the village, the body was hastily buried in the woods as they swept through the area during a clearance operation.
Karobchuk said the corpse was later discovered by her dog with locals tipping off the Ukrainian forces charged with collecting the Russian dead.
Be careful, we don?t want to miss or damage anything, said a member of the five-person team outfitted in hazmat suits as they shovelled away piles of black soil, after zeroing in on the location of the body.
After carefully clearing the shallow grave, the team inspected the remains, with the white band tied around the corpse?s right arm signifying the fighter?s affiliation with the Russian military.
The forensics teams patted down the decomposing body looking for any pieces of identification before moving it into a body bag.
- 'Fairy tale' -
After the bodies are found and exhumed, they are stored in a string of refrigerated rail cars stacked with the Russian dead.
The location of the mobile morgues remains a tightly held secret, with Ukrainians fearing a Russian air strike against evidence of the death toll.
To date, Ukraine said its fighters have killed more than 20,000 Russian forces since the start of the invasion. Russia has put the number of its dead much lower than Kyiv's claim at 1,351 in its last update issued on March 25.
Both sides have been accused of exaggerating their gains and downplaying their losses throughout the conflict.
They have this beautiful fairy tale that they don't leave their own people behind, but it?s really a fairy tale, said Colonel Volodymyr Lyamzin as he watched over the removal of the body in Zavalivka.
Since the body collection effort was launched in recent weeks, some 200 corpses of Russian soldiers have been picked up and stored in Ukraine, with the vast majority found in the capital?s outskirts, according to forensic teams.
More bodies have apparently been picked up by retreating Russian troops. Ukrainian officials have accused Russian forces of deploying mobile crematoria to dispose of the bodies of their soldiers.
According to the Lyamzin, Moscow has shown no interest in facilitating the return of their dead, despite efforts by Ukranian authorities.
They will be stored in our mobile fridges as long as it is needed, said Lyamzin, who oversees the recovery operations.
If Russia will not take them away, after some time our government will pass a resolution and these bodies will be buried here in Ukraine, the colonel added.
Those who we are able to identify will be buried under their own names. Those who aren't will be buried as unknowns.