A mass grave is the burial of a group of people who died at the same time in connection with some events, including military operations, epidemics, natural disasters, repression, etc. Such objects have their own number and are indicated on maps. Data on the identities of people lying in the grave are usually unknown. Burials are divided into civil and military, while the military should salute the mass graves of dead soldiers.
The oldest mass grave was found on the territory of the Old Simonov Monastery in Moscow, where cubic meters of human remains were discovered. The skulls of the buried, according to experts, belonged to young healthy people, and clothes and some items were not preserved. This, together with the necessary analyzes, allowed us to conclude that in this place there was a mass burial of soldiers who died, as is supposed, during the Battle of Kulikovo.
The territory of Russia was repeatedly subjected to military raids. Therefore, the mass grave, unfortunately, is a frequent occurrence in many settlements. So, in the seventies of the 20th century, at the edge of the Utitsky forest, a collective burial was discovered with a total area of about 170 square meters. meters, in the territory of which the last shelter was found about 700 people and 350 horses. The remains were collected and burned in November 1812. In Soviet times, the territory at the burial site was landscaped. Here they put obelisks, cleared the paths. A wooden cross was later erected.
World War II added to the sad list of burials. For example, about 139 thousand Soviet soldiers were killed on the Karelian Isthmus, and about 0.3 million people died in the Great Patriotic War. The Finns lost about 87 thousand soldiers. Of these, about 60 thousand died in 1941-1944. Due to the fact that the fighting was carried out in the forests, on the territory of the isthmus there is still not one mass grave that requires detection based on historical data, as well as proper care.
Today in the Russian Federation there are numerous search units, some of which are united in a special union. Many of those participating in the excavations say that soldiers who died in the Great Patriotic War still lie in the forests and fields of the country. It is possible to establish the identity of some of them, while the rest are buried in mass graves with the appropriate honors. According to some studies, about 26.6 million people died as a result of military and other actions in the USSR during the Great Patriotic War.
In addition, we must not forget about the victims of peacetime, which include those who died during the Stalinist repressions. In many cities of Russia and the CIS countries, monuments to those who were shot in the late 40s are unveiled today. For example, near Voronezh more than 100 shooting places were discovered, 998 (!) People were buried. Near Irkutsk, several ditches were filled with killed people, in Vorkuta - mines and dumps, near St. Petersburg - a whole wasteland (Levashovo).
