Mass grave of Stalin era victims found in Russia

MOSCOW - A mass grave containing the remains of some 500 victims of the Stalin regime has been discovered during road construction in the far east of Russia, the news agency Interfax reported Friday.

Bullet holes in the skulls indicate that the people were likely political prisoners who were executed in the 1930s.

The remains are to be turned over to one of the region’s cemeteries for a dignified burial, following a forensic examination, a spokesman for the administration in the city of Vladivostok was quoted as saying.

Stalin ruled Russia from the mid 1920s till his death in1953.