Izium Lyceum No. 2. Torture chamber

Izium is the city in the southeast of the Kharkiv region that suffered one of the most from the full-scale Russian invasion. In the end of February 2022, Russian troops approached the city and began the assault. Throughout March, the Russians bombarded Izium with every kind of weapon, trying to capture the city. Private and apartment buildings, schools and kindergartens, medical facilities, shops, etc. became the targets of the Russian military. The central part of the city suffered the most, almost no appartment was left intact. "We have the most extensive destruction since the Second World War. The city center is practically erased," said Deputy Mayor Volodymyr Matsokin about the situation in the city. People were hiding in basements without electricity, gas, water, or communication. The Russians also prevented the evacuation of the city's residents by shelling the "green corridor" routes. Izium was occupied from 1 April until 10 September 2022. The Russians kept the residents of the city in fear: they practiced kidnappings and torture. When the city was liberated, a mass grave was found on the outskirts of the city. According to the Ukrainian obmudsman Dmytro Lubinets, whole families of civilians with the same date of death are buried in those graves. Many of them died under the shellings or were killed by the Russian soldiers. During the exhumation, the bodies of 447 people were found in the mass graves of Izium. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, at least 1,000 civilians have died in the city, about 80% of the city's infrastructure has been destroyed, including the centralized heating system. A great number of people suffered due to the lack of medical care. At the time of the de-occupation, about 10,000 residents remained in the city from over 46,000 as of 2020.