In theory, residents of Hostomel, northwest of kyiv, are banned from returning home until April 14. But Viktor and his dog Aïza did indeed return two days ago: “It’s because I love my house more than the neighbors”, he smiles. At the outbreak of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, he was forced to leave this building in which he had lived for 40 years. His district, stuck to the airport and the military base, has become the stake of a fierce battle for the defense of the capital.
Viktor recounts how he experienced the Russian offensive: “I was there on the balcony three hours after the offensive started, and I saw the Russians coming, Chechens. I saw the Russian helicopters bombing the airport and our soldiers trying to defend their base “. The airport was first taken by the Russians, then recaptured after weeks of fierce fighting by the Ukrainians in early April. In the meantime, the fighting was particularly intense, both on the ground and in the air, and the whole neighborhood still bears the gaping traces.
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“The airport is over there, shows us Viktor, but there, you see these buildings pierced by the missiles, it must have been hell, because the Chechens had settled there and were fighting against our soldiers who were defending the base, and the Ukrainians also fired a lot of artillery to prevent the Russians from taking over the airstrip.”
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Many of its neighbors have fled abroad. Others were forcibly evacuated to Belarus. Until they can come back, Viktor makes a point of photographing everything he has seen for two days: “I take a lot of photos because I’m in shock, and it allows me to get out of this state of shock. Also, because I know my neighborhood by heart and I have a form of nostalgia for it.”
“I want to show my neighbors what happened here, witness what the war has done, what the Russians have done to us.”
Viktor, resident of Hostelelat franceinfo
This electrical engineer also helps to restore power, so that life can resume. But before that, the deminers must have finished securing the area. As we leave Viktor, a car passes and its loudspeaker warns that at noon, controlled explosions will take place to destroy the mines found in the vicinity.