Mass graves in the Soviet Union

Mass graves in the Soviet Union were used for the burial of mass numbers of citizens and foreigners executed by the government of the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin. These mass killings were carried out by the security organisations, such as the NKVD, and reached their peak in the Great Purge of 1937–38.

Following the demise of the USSR in 1991, many of the killing and burial sites were uncovered, one as recently as 2010.

Katyn 1943 exhumation. Photo taken by Polish Red Cross delegation.

Memorial cemetery Krasny Bor near Petrozavodsk, Russia

Kuropaty mass grave site near Minsk, Belarus