Vadim, whose family is under the rubble, knows this. But he can not give up hope. Islanded by grief, the 45-year-old waits in front of the skeletal remains of the tower for news about the bodies of his loved ones. The fisherman, who happened to be out when the missile hit, is holding his winter jacket like a life buoy. It is the only property he has left in the world. Shortly before 8 a.m. that icy March morning, he missed a call from Leda’s mother, 64, while transporting his wife and child to a shelter inside a nearby school. A few meters in front of the apartment building, he tried to call his mother to urge her to move as well. Before the call could be connected, it was thrown into the air. The world turned red and white and upside down. The sky erupted and erupted at the same time. When the dust settled, the center of the nine-story building was extinguished by a wild fire. “It was so intense that I have never seen anything like it. “He forced me to go to the ground,” he says in front of the block yawning at the sky. The second-floor apartment where his mother, brother, sister-in-law and mother-in-law lived is now a pile of charred concrete. Vadim and his sister Julia (Bel Trew / Independent) “I do not know if they reached the basement, but even if they did, there was no way I could reach them. I tried so many times, but the bombing was so intense that it was impossible. “We could do nothing but leave them there.” Parts of Borodyanka, 26 miles northwest of Kiev, disappeared from bombardment and bombardment in the following days before Russian troops entered, occupied the area, looted and set fire to shops and shot at Ukrainians who dared to leave. Telephone networks and power lines have been cut, food and water are scarce. And so the rescue operation could not be carried out until this Thursday, when the Russian forces had withdrawn. Authorities said four corpses were pulled from the concrete and steel murmurs that afternoon, including a child, and the corpses were charred unrecognized. Firefighters walk next to the ruined ruins of Borodyanka (Bell True) “Why target this? There was not a single Ukrainian soldier in the city when the war broke out. “We were just families with children,” says Vadym. “I remain in hope, but I also do not believe in miracles. “At least I want to locate the bodies so that I can bury them properly,” he added, bursting into tears. Borodyanka, Bucha, Irpin, Hostomel, Makariv: these are names now synonymous with some of the most brutal acts in Russia. Before being attacked in Russia’s Kyiv, when President Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine on February 24, they were dormant satellite cities unknown to the world. Areas visited by The Independent in the wake of the Russian retreat (The Independent / Datawrapper) In recent weeks there has been food for horror from those who fled. Now, after the withdrawal of Russian forces in their repositioning in the east, the true scale of these atrocities has been revealed. Hundreds if not thousands are believed to be dead. Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova said on Friday that 650 bodies – 40 of them children – were found in the Kiev region, although further investigations were under way. Russia has repeatedly and categorically denied that it targeted civilians and that it committed war crimes. The Kremlin said on Tuesday that the West’s claims of civilians being executed in Bucharest, in particular, were a “monstrous falsification” aimed at discrediting the Russian military. But in more than a dozen interviews, residents of these cities have dramatically refuted these allegations. They spoke of brief executions, torture and shootings of civilians trying to obtain supplies or flee. Some are said to have been raped. The Independent has stumbled upon mass graves and execution sites, makeshift cemeteries and scenes of alleged torture. In Borodyanka, the open wounds of war mark almost every building in the center. almost every store has been looted. Empty shoe boxes scatter across the main streets – locals say the Russians looted a shoe store, testing each pair for size. Unexploded ordnance and bombs flood Buha (Bell True) Groups including the Human Rights Watch say they have documented multiple cases of possible war crimes. Laws of war prohibit the killing, rape and torture and inhuman treatment of both prisoners of war and detained civilians. Looting and looting are also prohibited. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet reiterates these warnings. Her office says the horror unveiled in these cities marks a new low in the war, with victims’ bodies being desecrated to death. The testimonies gathered by The Independent tell the true story of this bloody war and shed light on Russia’s game book for the whole country as Putin’s attack continues. “We were left here alone without water, without food, without electricity without light,” said Vadym’s sister, Julia, 31, in tears as she waited for news of her mother’s body. “We had no warning, our world just collapsed around us.” Roman, 15, is about to be executed by Russian troops (Bel Trew / Independent)
“My life would end this stupid way”
Soldiers forced 15-year-old Roman to his knees, pushed his face to the ground and then fired two warning shots at his head. The bullets almost killed Victor’s father, 40, and a neighbor, who were lying face down on the ground next to him. They were lined up for an “execution” in their backyard in Bucha. “Maybe we can waste the old and save the young,” one of the soldiers laughed, pressing the barrel of his gun to Roman’s throat. Moments earlier, Roman and his father had rebuilt the roof of their partially damaged building after hiding in a shelter after three days of heavy bombardment without food or water. A group of soldiers who occupied the area had disagreed with this and ordered them to be executed briefly. “I just remember being upset that my life would end this stupid way,” the teenager says bluntly. “But at the last second, their commander came and ordered them not to kill us.” Roman’s uncle was not so lucky, adds his mother Tania, 37 years old. “He was killed while trying to find supplies, but we do not know why.” Roman says they also stumbled upon a neighbor whose body had been eaten almost entirely by rats and a woman who had been shot in the head, half of which was missing. “We could not understand who she was because there was not enough left of her face,” she added with a disarming calm. Troops work to clear some of the worst-hit areas of Bucha, Borodyanka and Hostomel (Bell True) His street – Vokzalna – looks like it has been blackened. Every house in Roman’s bar has been grabbed by a giant claw. At the center are the charred remains of dozens of Russian armored vehicles on the beach: a column that came under heavy Ukrainian fire at the start of the war. Ukrainian authorities say at least 300 people have been killed in Bukha – about 50 of them in summary execution, although the death toll is rising every day with the discovery of fresh bodies. The only word that describes Bucha and the surrounding cities is haunted. There, the wind blows through the rusty side cages of shops, restaurants and supermarkets a whisper of what once was the cities. Missiles and unexploded ordnance are being wedged in the streets. “We did not leave” and “the children are inside” are engraved on the walls of the houses and fences in a desperate attempt to avoid the target of the advancing troops. However, the front yards are filled with bulldozers from tank rails. But the real horror is in the bodies – or pieces of bodies – scattered everywhere. Dozens of civilians have been found with their hands tied behind their backs and shot. Other bodies are recognizable only by the indicative movement of a charred spine or jaw, wedged into overturned Russian tanks. A family at Hostomel wrote “Kids here” in Russian on their building, hoping to protect them (Bel Trew / Independent) The last frightening moments of departing families freeze at creepy tables: in a Bucha neighborhood, a crashed car overturns on a sidewalk, the hood is broken by a shell and a child seat is still attached to the seat belt hanging on the side. At Hostomel, just north of Bucha, outside a house, skull and brain fragments stretch an airbag – in line with three neat bullet holes in the driver’s headrest. The body of the victim – shot dead while driving her 11-year-old son – has been buried, explains a family that saved the boy. He was found screaming, stuck under his mother’s lifeless body. Then there are the tombs. Throughout Bucha, Hostomel, Makariv and Borodyanka, Soviet-era communal apartment gardens have been turned into makeshift cemeteries as it was very dangerous to transport corpses to morgues. In Bucha we come across Helena, 61, who shows us three who helped her dig out of her flat window. Two contained men who were staying in the building and were shot (in one they first broke his head with a blunt object). The third, a man named Leonid, was killed by a grenade thrown at his apartment “for fun”. Helena prays next to the graves that helped her dig out of her flat window in Bucha (Bell True) “It was the most horrible scene I have ever seen,” she adds with tears in her eyes. “They knocked on his door and threw the grenade for fun. He was missing one leg and half of his face. “Only a few of us were brave enough to bury him.” In a different neighborhood, some residents come out of the shadow of a fictional apartment complex to show the Independent a grave they hastily dug, for a man who was publicly shot in the main courtyard on March 16 because the Russians accused him …
title: “In The Towns Around Kyiv A Trail Of Murdered Civilians Mass Graves And Devastation Marks A Russian Retreat " ShowToc: true date: “2022-10-27” author: “Ronald Medeiros”
Vadim, whose family is under the rubble, knows this. But he can not give up hope. Islanded by grief, the 45-year-old waits in front of the skeletal remains of the plot for news about the bodies of his loved ones. The fisherman, who happened to be out when the missile hit, is holding his winter jacket like a life buoy. It is the only property he has left in the world. Shortly before 8 a.m. that icy March morning, he missed a call from Leda’s mother, 64, while transporting his wife and child to a shelter inside a nearby school. A few meters in front of the apartment building, he tried to call his mother to urge her to move as well. Before the call could be connected, it was thrown into the air. The world turned red and white and upside down. The sky erupted and erupted at the same time. When the dust settled, the center of the nine-story building was destroyed by a wild fire. “It was so intense, I have never seen anything like it. “He forced me to cross the ground,” he says in front of the block yawning at the sky. The second-floor apartment where his mother, brother, sister-in-law and mother-in-law lived is now a pile of charred concrete. Vadim and his sister Julia (Bel Trew / Independent) “I do not know if they reached the basement, but even if they did, there was no way I could reach them. I tried so many times, but the bombing was so intense that it was impossible. “We could do nothing but leave them there.” Parts of Borodyanka, 26 miles northwest of Kiev, disappeared from bombardment and bombardment in the following days before Russian troops entered, occupied the area, looted and set fire to shops and shot at Ukrainians who dared to leave. Telephone networks and power lines have been cut, food and water are scarce. And so the rescue operation could not be carried out until this Thursday, when the Russian forces had withdrawn. Authorities say four bodies were pulled from the concrete and steel creeks that afternoon, including one child, and the bodies were charred unrecognized. Firefighters walk next to the ruined ruins of Borodyanka (Bell True) “Why target this? There was not a single Ukrainian soldier in the city when the war broke out. “We were just families with children,” says Vadym. “I remain in hope, but I also do not believe in miracles. “At least I want to locate the bodies so that I can bury them properly,” he added, bursting into tears. Borodyanka, Bucha, Irpin, Hostomel, Makariv: these are names now synonymous with some of the most brutal acts in Russia. Before being attacked in Russia’s Kyiv, when President Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine on February 24, dormant satellite cities were unknown to the world. Areas visited by The Independent in the wake of the Russian retreat (The Independent / Datawrapper) In recent weeks there has been food for horror from those who fled. Now, after the withdrawal of Russian forces in their repositioning in the east, the true scale of these atrocities has been revealed. Hundreds if not thousands are believed to be dead. Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova said on Friday that 650 bodies – 40 of them children – were found in the Kiev region, although further investigations were under way. Russia has repeatedly and categorically denied that it targeted civilians and that it committed war crimes. The Kremlin said on Tuesday that the West’s claims of civilians being executed in Bucharest, in particular, were “monstrous forgery” aimed at discrediting the Russian military. But in more than a dozen interviews, residents of these cities have dramatically refuted these allegations. They spoke of brief executions, torture and shootings of civilians trying to obtain supplies or flee. Some are said to have been raped. The Independent has stumbled upon mass graves and execution sites, makeshift cemeteries and scenes of alleged torture. In Borodyanka, the open wounds of war mark almost every building in the center. almost every store has been looted. Empty shoe boxes scatter across the main streets – locals say the Russians looted a shoe store, testing each pair for size. Unexploded ordnance and bombs flood Buha (Bell True) Groups including the Human Rights Watch say they have documented multiple cases of possible war crimes. Laws of war prohibit the killing, rape and torture and inhuman treatment of both prisoners of war and detained civilians. Looting and looting are also prohibited. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet reiterates these warnings. Her office says the horror unveiled in these cities marks a new low in the war, with victims’ bodies being desecrated to death. The testimonies gathered by The Independent tell the true story of this bloody war and shed light on Russia’s game book for the whole country as Putin’s attack continues. “We were left here alone, abandoned, without water, without food, without electricity, without light,” said Vadym’s sister, Julia, 31, in tears as she waited for news of her mother’s body. “We had no warning, our world just collapsed around us.” Roman, 15, is about to be executed by Russian troops (Bel Trew / Independent)
“My life would end this stupid way”
Soldiers forced 15-year-old Roman to his knees, pushed his face to the ground and then fired two warning shots at his head. The bullets almost killed Victor’s father, 40, and a neighbor, who were lying face down on the ground next to him. They were lined up for an “execution” in their backyard in Bucha. “Maybe we can waste the old and save the young,” one of the soldiers laughed, pressing the barrel of his gun to Roman’s throat. Moments earlier, Roman and his father had rebuilt the roof of their partially damaged building after hiding in a shelter after three days of heavy bombardment without food or water. A group of soldiers who occupied the area had disagreed with this and ordered them to be executed briefly. “I just remember being upset that my life would end this stupid way,” the teenager says bluntly. “But at the last second, their commander came and ordered them not to kill us.” Roman’s uncle was not so lucky, says his mother Tanya, 37, adding: “He was killed while trying to find supplies, but we do not know why.” Roman says they fell on a neighbor whose body had been eaten almost entirely by rats, and a woman who had been shot in the head, half of which was missing. “We could not understand who she was because there was not enough left of her face,” she added with a disarming calm. Troops work to clear some of the worst-hit areas of Bucha, Borodyanka and Hostomel (Bell True) His street – Vokzalna – looks like it has been blackened. Every house in Roman’s bar has been grabbed by a giant claw. At the center are the charred remains of twelve Russian armored vehicles on the beach: a column that came under heavy Ukrainian fire at the start of the war. Ukrainian authorities say at least 300 people have been killed in Bukha – about 50 of them in summary execution, although the death toll is rising every day with the discovery of fresh bodies. The only word that describes Bucha and the surrounding cities is haunted. There, the wind blows through the rusty side cages of shops, restaurants and supermarkets, a whisper of what once was the cities. Missiles and unexploded ordnance are being planted in the streets. The walls of the houses and the fences are engraved with “we are not gone” and “the children are inside” in a desperate attempt to avoid the target of the advancing troops. However, the front yards are filled with bulldozers from tank rails. But the real horror is in the bodies – or pieces of bodies – scattered everywhere. Dozens of civilians have been found with their hands tied behind their backs and shot. Other corpses are recognizable only by the indicative movement of a charred spine or jaw, wedged into overturned Russian tanks. A family at Hostomel wrote “kids here” in Russian on their building, hoping it would protect them (Bel Trew / Independent) The last frightening moments of fleeing families freeze on creepy boards: in a Bucha neighborhood, a crashed car overturns on a sidewalk, the hood is broken by a shell, while a child seat is still attached to the seat belt. side. At Hostomel, just north of Bucha, outside a house, skull and brain fragments stretch an airbag – in line with three neat bullet holes in the driver’s headrest. The body of the victim – shot dead while driving her 11-year-old son – has been buried, explains a family that saved the boy. He was found screaming, stuck under his mother’s lifeless body. Then there are the tombs. Throughout Bucha, Hostomel, Makariv and Borodyanka, Soviet-era communal apartment gardens have been turned into makeshift cemeteries as it was very dangerous to transport corpses to morgues. In Bucha we come across Helena, 61, who shows us three who helped her dig out of her flat window. Two contained men who were staying in the building and were shot (in one they first broke his head with a blunt object). The third, a man named Leonid, was killed by a grenade thrown at his apartment “for fun”. Helena prays next to the graves that helped her dig out of her flat window in Bucha (Bell True) “It was the most horrible scene I have ever seen,” she adds with tears in her eyes. “They knocked on his door [and] thrown at the grenade for fun. He was missing one leg and half of his face. “Only a few of us were brave enough to bury him.” In a different neighborhood, some residents emerge from the shadow of a fictional apartment complex to show the Independent a hastily dug grave, for a man who was publicly shot in the main courtyard on the 16th …
