Exhumation of mass graves in deoccupied territories as a specific mechanism of forensic intervention in the military and post-genocidal space

The article examines the exhumation of mass graves in the deoccupied territories of Ukraine as a specific type of criminal investigation into mass violence caused by the aggression of the russian federation (rf, russia – hereinafter referred to in the author’s edition) and the commission of numerous war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide by the occupying forces. The starting point of the work is that, in the context of the russian-Ukrainian war, exhumation loses its character as an auxiliary investigative (search) action and acquires independent evidentiary significance, since it is through exhumation that the legal connection between the bodily remains, the victim, and the mechanism of deprivation of life is restored. The authors justify the understanding of exhumation as a procedurally regulated removal of bodily remains from any form of burial with their subsequent forensic, anthropological, and molecular-genetic examination, which provides the possibility of identifying the person and reconstructing the circumstances of death. It has been proven that the current version of Article 239 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine (hereinafter referred to as the CPC) does not conceptually correspond to the realities of mass burials, as it subordinates exhumation to the examination of a corpse, which deprives it of its proper evidentiary status in proceedings concerning war crimes. It has been shown that in conditions of putrefactive, thermal, and mechanical destruction of soft tissues, it is bone and dental tissue that become the main carriers of identification information, and genetic profiles obtained from such objects form a single stable criterion for establishing a person’s identity. An analysis of the practice of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the Tribunal for Rwanda shows that exhumation is used as the main tool for reconstructing the structure of mass murder and proving genocidal intent. Finally, there is a need for digital recording and traceability of evidence obtained during exhumations, which is a prerequisite for its use in international criminal proceedings. In turn, the results of the study form the basis for revising approaches to exhumation in domestic criminal proceedings, given the realities of war crimes and mass burials.