How many abuses committed in Ukraine? The town of Boutcha in the northwest of kyiv has become the symbol of these war crimes: the bodies lying in the streets, the raped women, the mass graves. But the city is probably no exception: in Irpin, Borodyanka or even Druzhnya, locals report terrifying scenes.
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In the latter city, located about fifty kilometers from kyivthose who did not flee the fighting lived under Russian occupation for a month and five days, suffering daily violence and humiliation.
Despite his blue eyes which have lost none of their brilliance, Anatole, 23, suffered violence, which his bandaged hand still bears witness to. “This is how I was interrogated: they took me out into my yard, they made me kneel down, they asked me to put my hands up, and they shot my right hand. Then they put a black bag over my head, tied it with tape, bound my hands and put me on an armored car to take me to their base. Now I’m afraid of any noise, I’m still living under the pressure of the occupation“, he describes.
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A neighbor says that all the young people were stripped naked and forced to lie down in the cold earth and stay there for five hours, without raising their faces, on pain of being beaten. Nadiatcha’s son was subjected to a macabre staging.”He didn’t tell me much, but yes the Russians had put him in the coffin. As they had closed, he lost his breath and started banging on the lid. It is there, next to the church, there is the cabin of the ritual services and there, there were coffins inside. He replied that he knew nothing. They hit him, but he didn’t know anything“, she confides It is necessary here to understand nothing about the individual or individuals who would have informed the Ukrainian army, because it is indeed what the Russian soldiers were looking for, by searching in the telephones, then trampled, that Lahissa wants to show us. She saw her son and her husband being shot and suspects the use of chemical substances.
“We are not experts, but we concluded that the Russians used something forbidden on us.”
“I’m no expert but I can prove they used something forbidden because we all had dry lips. The skin on our arms and hands cracked. The bald men had burns and pimples on their heads, and also festering sores on their ears.”she accuses.
In front of Lahissa’s house, the road still bears the marks of Russian tank tracks. They continue to the forest where many men have been taken. Six did not return, assures Anatole.