Archeologists have found a mass grave of prisoners held in a Soviet prison in Lutsk. Scholars say that the people were shot by the members of NKVD in 1941. The relics will be reburied in a monastery after all the required procedures are obtained. UATV has the whole story.

TRANSCRIPT OF VIDEO REPORT

On June 23rd, 1941, as the Soviet Army was retreating from the German army near the western Ukrainian city of Lutsk, the NKVD decided that prisoners were at risk of joining with the Nazis. So, the prisoners were massacred. Very few survived.

Volodymyr Kharchuk, Deputy Director of Memorial

People pointed to this place. However, since the road was built there, nobody could do anything.The remains were found during the reconstruction of the site.

According to researchers, the positions of the bodies indicated that the victims were just thrown into a bomb crater.

The bomb explosion created a cone-shaped crater.The bodies were dropped here randomly. One could only guess how these bodies were brought there. This person got twisted, holding something under his hands. It was probably his clothing.

Here are the remains of shoes, clothes and household items of the victims of the massacre. You can still see the bullets where they hit the bone.

Yaroslav Onyshchuk, Deputy Director of Memorial

Executions were carried out using Nagant Revolvers, Mosin rifles or Degtyaryov machine guns, which fired similar rounds.

The exact number dead bodies has not yet been determined. But the authorities and activists promise to exhume them all and rebury them with dignity.

Serhiy Hodlevskyi, Historian

In the old part of Lutsk, there will be our Volyn Golgotha, with relics from all over the region. It is very good that they will be reburied near the monastery, that there will be prayers here.

The relics are planned to be buried in a special sarcophagus on the grounds of the Holy Archangel Monastery. It is located on the premises of the former prison.

Mykhaylo, Metropolitan of Lutsk and Volyn, Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyivan Patriarchate