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Ukraine security chief: Main battles taking place in eastern industrial heartland of Donbas

Russia Ukraine War
Posted at 3:41 PM, Apr 22, 2022
and last updated 2022-04-22 18:41:47-04

Ukraine's security chief says the main battles in Ukraine are taking place in the Donbas, the industrial heartland in the east, with Russians deploying more and more troops every day.

Oleksiy Danilov is secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council. He said on Friday that over 100,000 soldiers are fighting for Russia in Ukraine, including mercenaries from Syria and Libya. He says more troops keep coming in. In Danilov's words: "We have a difficult situation, but our army is defending our state."

Another mass grave was found outside Mariupol, the city council and an adviser to the mayor said on Friday.

The city council posted a satellite photo provided by Planet Labs showing what it said was a mass grave 45 meters (147.64 feet) by 25 meters (82.02 feet) that could hold the bodies of at least 1,000 Mariupol residents.

It said the new reported mass grave is outside the village of Vynohradne, which is east of Mariupol. Earlier this week, satellite photos from Maxar Technologies revealed what appeared to be rows upon rows of more than 200 freshly dug mass graves in the town of Manhush, located to the west of Mariupol.

The discovery of mass graves has led to accusations that the Russians are trying to conceal the slaughter of civilians in the city.