Skeletons dating back to 1930s found near Moscow

Moscow, May 15 (IANS/RIA Novosti) The remains of 11 people buried about 80 years ago have been discovered near the Russian capital, officials said.

The remains were found on the bank of the Pakhra river south of Moscow, the Russian Investigative Committee said in a statement.

A forensic examination has started.

Based on the results of the examination, a decision will be made on how to proceed further, the committee said.

The 1930s saw the height of Joseph Stalin's purges, in which thousands of people were shot after arbitrary arrest and buried in mass graves around Moscow and Leningrad (now St. Petersburg).

In 2002, human rights group Memorial claimed it had found a site at Taksovo near St. Petersburg where the bodies of 30,000 victims of Stalin's repression were buried.

Other mass graves near Russian cities were the result of famines in the 1920s and from World War II.

--IANS/RIA Novosti

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