Shocking testimonies of killing and destruction are coming from the town of Buča. Jaroslav told 24sata reporters and told how he woke up in the middle of the night with shootings and explosions:
The Russian army smashed apartments, windows, shot my friend and threw the corpse near the garbage. Let everyone see. There was a Canadian citizen in my house who got stuck in Bucha. I tried not to let anything happen to him, he managed to get out. There was a shelter for 300 Ukrainian children in the kindergarten, I took their diapers and food. The Russians started checking everyone who was there and who came, they smashed people’s cell phones so that no one took photos or videos. They also smashed all the shops in the city, let people take what they wanted. The next night asm spent with a friend. In front of our house, the Russian army was killing civilians – says a shaken Jaroslav.
The Russian army has placed its command in a kindergarten. I passed them several times, trying to see me, in a bright blue jacket, to realize that I was a civilian. They saw that I did not pose any threat to them, I even tried to talk to them a couple of times. The young soldiers also started talking little by little about future plans, saying that “the cadres will come here soon”. I met them. I think if they kill me, they might regret it a little. They already know where I live, they see me moving around the house. I was horrified when at one point, on my way home, I saw a pile of dead bodies lying in the street. I don’t know if it was our soldiers or just civilians.
The Russian military is trying to camp in residential areas and houses, says Yaroslav. They explain to the Ukrainians that they came to protect and save them, not to kill civilians. They are calm as long as there is food and until the Ukrainian army sees them. As soon as that changes, they immediately start killing civilians.
– A tank barrel was pointed at our house. My neighbor, my father’s friend, had their house destroyed, the family hid in the basement, and they have a child with cerebral palsy. One soldier ran up to them in a grenade shelter, wanted to blow them up, but changed his mind when he saw the child and when his parents began to persuade him to stop, saying they were civilians. When the family came out, they saw the devastation around them, the destroyed tank, the corpses of people, says Jaroslav.
– The Russians shoot as soon as they see a weapon, ammunition, the smell of gunpowder … There really is hell now. There was no water, no light, no heating in the city. They destroyed everything. The cold was terrible, it was impossible to warm up.
Jaroslav went to the supermarket, he wanted to find and get water for his grandmother. In the middle of the store he was greeted by two soldiers with weapons, he wanted to turn around and leave, but they asked him what he needed. He explained that there was no water in the city and that he would like to take a bottle for his grandmother. The army took him to the basement, Yaroslav thought they would kill him, but the Russians turned on the lights, so he took the bottle and quickly headed for the exit. The soldiers stopped him and put a bottle of cognac and vodka in his pockets.
– I decided to run away from the city when I saw the killed neighbors near the fence and realized that I could be next. I gathered some things, told the families to be ready to leave while the Russian soldiers know and remember me, until they shoot at me, we should try to leave the city and go to Vorzel (a city in the Kiev region). I know Buča well, that helped me manage on the field. I told my family to tie white ribbons to our clothes to make sure we were civilians and not to be killed by snipers. We also took our little dog, so we walked eight kilometers towards Vorzel. We reached Kicevo (a little further from Vorzel), we saw about 30 tanks near the station. We decided to go back, but as soon as we left, people there started shouting that an evacuation would come soon. We stayed there all day waiting for salvation, but no one came, so we went to church, arranged with the priest to spend the night with them, in the basement. There they all prayed to God all night. The next day we waited for the evacuation and finally the buses arrived and we managed to get in and out of the city, says the brave guy.
Jaroslav also witnessed a horrific scene when he saw his neighbor carrying something heavy in his bag. He thought it was food and offered to help her, but then the woman replied that she was carrying her husband’s remains to bury them.
The guy also adds that the Russian army is mentally very weak, these are young guys, who would like to retire, return home, but they can’t, because then they are killed by their comrades.