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According to several sources without evidence and some English media, the Russian army would use mobile crematoriums to burn the bodies of soldiers and erase the traces of possible war crimes. A video of a truck circulating on the internet is actually taken from an advertisement for a company building incinerators for biological waste.
According to several Ukrainian officials, the Russian army would use mobile crematoriums in Ukraine, to burn the bodies of Russian soldiers who died in combat or evidence of potential war crimes. “You know they brought crematoriums with them?”declared Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on 3 March. “Russian mobile crematoriums have started operating in Mariupol. Top Russian leaders have ordered the destruction of evidence of crimes committed by their army”, the Mariupol City Council reported on Telegram on April 6. But is it true? Several British media share a video showing a truck equipped with an incinerator. They claim that Russian soldiers brought it to Ukraine. But this video is actually from a 2013 advertisement for the Russian company Turmalin, which builds incinerators to burn biological waste. These trucks do exist, but this video does not prove their presence in Ukraine.
On social networks, however, some claim that the British authorities have confirmed this information. Information from English media having published articles titled: “Russia deploys mobile crematoriums to follow its troops on the battlefield”. They refer to a press conference by British Defense Minister Ben Wallace, dated February 23, the day before the Russian invasion. “We expect to see things they’ve done before. For example, they’ve used mobile crematoriums”, did he declare. He therefore did not confirm that mobile crematoriums were used by the Russians, but that he expected to see some. This is not the first time they have been mentioned by Ukraine. During the war in Donbass in 2015, the head of Ukrainian security, Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, already mentioned their presence, again without evidence or images.