Articles

Blackened houses, broken windows, deserted streets. The impression that time stood still. No, this is not Chornobyl. This is Northern Saltivka, a large residential area in Kharkiv, in the summer of 2022.

A resident of Borodianka, Valentyna Torhonska, was hiding with other people in the basement when a shell exploded near her house. In her declining years, she is homeless and doesn’t know how to continue her life.

Olena’s mother died in Izium from anorexia. She could not leave the occupied territory despite numerous evacuation attempts. The lack of treatment and the indifferent attitude of the invaders and collaborators killed an aged woman.

When the war began, servicewoman Valeriia Krokis was eight months pregnant. She managed to escape the occupation, gave birth to her child in Lviv, and was reunited with her husband, who had been wounded at the frontine.

We met with Halyna Khoroshchak in her apartment in Borodianka, which was destroyed by air strikes. With tears in her eyes, the woman spoke about how the Russians dropped bombs on residential buildings, shot civilians, and looted.

On February 22, 2022, International Memorial was dissolved by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. But, as we see, Memorial cannot be “dissolved”, just as a human being cannot be deprived of their innate ability to keep memories and reflect.

Blooming and beautiful — with these words, Liudmyla Halaka describes Borodianka. However, neither the beauty nor the amenities that struck the Russian occupiers prevented them from destroying not only the village but also human lives.

Ninel Chernyshenko, a resident of Borodianka, saw with her own eyes how Russian planes deliberately dropped bombs on peaceful houses. Yet, against all odds, she believes in victory, peace, and the restoration of Ukraine.

Vira Tiata worked as a kindergarten teacher for 48 years. Even in the worst nightmare, she could not imagine that Russian invaders would destroy everything she had acquired.

Taras Viychuk interviews Kyrylo Kutsenko from Rubizhne. He witnessed the battles for Rubizhne twice. In 2014, the city stood up. In 2022, Russians completely destroyed it.

Natalia Shtepa left Rubizhne on March 26, 2022. She hid from the shelling with her neighbors in a cramped unfurnished basement. She says she slept sitting up for 17 nights.

A resident of the Moshchun village in the Kyiv region tells about the horrors of the first days of the full-scale war.

Svitlana Holovata’s house in Moshchun was destroyed. Everything burned down: the beds, wardrobes, all wooden furniture, and TV. She said she felt like there was nothing there before.

Volodymyr Zaika is a resident of the village of Moshchun, Kyiv region. He says that only 5% of the houses in Moshchun remained intact.

During his unlawful detention, Anatoliy Tutov was beaten viciously, tortured with electric shocks, and threatened with being killed or crippled. His tormentors also demanded money.

Mykola Kostenko lives on Lisna Street in Moshchun village, Kyiv Region. In March 2022, it was absolute hell living in these parts.

Kharkiv resident Nadiya Bratashevska recalls living with her husband in the basement for two months: “As you go for humanitarian aid, you keep praying to God. Then, you press against the wall until the shell flies by or explodes.”

As a result of the airstrike, Iryna’s husband and a two-year-old son were injured. Their apartment was destroyed. But she wants to live in Borodianka and hopes to earn money for new housing.

Despite the persuasions of the children, a couple of pensioners from Borodianka refused to evacuate. They survived the air raids and saw the helicopters flying low overhead. Then, one day, Russians broke into their yard and began an interrogation.

Russia is violating the basic principles that defend children in wartime. Not only have the occupying forces taken no measures to return Ukrainian children to their families: they are deporting little Ukrainians to Russia and making them part of Russian society.

“I couldn’t leave my dog,” says Nataliia from Borodianka. One day, eight Russian soldiers entered their house and began looking for the “Nazis”. According to Nataliia, they did not understand that no one was expecting such “liberators”.

Genocide is primarily associated with mass murder but from the outset the 1948 Convention listed the transfer of children from one human group to another as an act of genocide.

In just a month of occupation, the Russians destroyed the center of Trostianets, bringing death and injury to hundreds of families. The military shot Serhii's mother on the way to the hospital.

Olena’s father died on the seventh day of the war, defending his house in the village of Yahidne. He was a pensioner, but when the Russian invaders entered the village, he picked up a hunting rifle and went against the enemy.