Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko reported on Oct. 15 that another six bodies of civilians were found in the liberated eastern city of Lyman. Kyrylenko said that they died during the Russian occupation, but the causes of death remain unclear.
Mass burial sites have been found in Lyman. The regional police department said on Oct. 14 that workers had finished exhuming bodies at one of Lyman’s mass graves containing 34 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers. Exhumation procedures continue at another mass grave, where more than 120 civilians were estimated to be buried.
Meanwhile, Donetsk Oblast continues to be heavily shelled by Russian forces.
Kyrylenko also reported on Oct. 15 that two civilians were killed in Bakhmut over the past 24 hours, while six others were wounded across the region.
Heavy fighting is reported in the central part of Donetsk Oblast as Russian forces slowly advance toward Bakhmut’s city center.
The U.K. intelligence confirmed Russian proxies’ earlier claim that they have captured the villages of Opytne and Ivanhrad, located south of Bakhmut.
Ukraine’s military has not commented on these reports. According to the reintegration ministry, Ukrainian forces have liberated 43 settlements in Donetsk Oblast over the past month.