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As per recent reports, the mayor of a Ukrainian village, Olga Sukhenko, was allegedly kidnapped and then killed alongside her son and husband by Russian troops. According to the New York Post, she was kidnapped on March 23 along with her husband Ihor and their 25-year-old son Oleksandr.
On Saturday, April 2, the bodies were reportedly found in a trench-like makeshift grave that Russian troops had used as barracks. Local media outlets claimed that the woman and her family were shot dead.
The reports of her death were confirmed by Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk, who said that Sukhenko and her family were kidnapped and killed "in captivity."
What is known about Olga Sukhenko?
Sukhenko served as the mayor of the Ukrainian village Motyzhyn, which is only a few kilometers away from the country's capital, Kyiv. While not much is known about the late Ukrainian mayor, she appeared to be in her late 50s or early 60s.
As per her Facebook profile, Olga Sukhenko (aka Olha) had joined the Motyzhyn village council in 2002. It is possible that Sukhenko was elected as the mayor in 2006. However, this detail could not be confirmed.
The late mayor reportedly attended school №127 Kyiv for her schooling and later joined the Kyiv Academy of Water Transport, named after Peter Konadevich-Sagaidachny, for higher studies.
A Ukrainian military personnel told Reuters:
"The occupiers suspected they were collaborating with our military, giving us locations of where to target our artillery. These scum tortured, slaughtered and killed the whole family. They will be responsible for this."
Meanwhile, many reports claimed that the mayor's body was thrown into a forest pit along with her husband and son. As per Daria Belenitsyna, who claimed to Reuters that she was the girlfriend of Oleksandr, Russian troops had visited Olga Sukhenko's house on March 23.
Belenitsyna alleged that the troops returned and abducted Sukhenko and her husband in blindfolds. They also reportedly went to their house for a third time to get Olga Sukhenko's son, Oleksandr.
A local native, Anton Herashchenko, identified the three bodies belonging to the Sukhenko family and alleged that the "Russian occupiers" had tortured and killed the whole family of the village head. A fourth body was also spotted around the same pit. However, that remains unidentified as of now.
According to the Associated Press, a localite named Oleg claimed that Russian troops attempted to take over the village and had targeted village officials and killed those who did not comply. Sukhenko is also reported to have not complied with the Russian military personnel's demands.
