Russian bombings turn Ukrainian village into ‘hell’ | World and Science

Published 03/28/2024 10:59

Amid the rubble, Svitlana Zavaly desperately searches for any object she can recover among the ruins of her home, bombed by Russia, in the northeast region of Ukraine.

“We have nothing left,” laments the 67-year-old Ukrainian, resident of Velyka Pysarivka, a village five kilometers from the border with Russia.

In mid-March, Russian bombings hit the town, in the Sumy region, for almost 10 consecutive days. The attacks came after Russian fighters allied with Kiev carried out several incursions into Russian territory.

“We had everything. And it happened in an instant. It’s a good thing we left here two days early,” says Zavaly.

She and her husband returned just for the day. The couple temporarily lives in Okhtyrka, a town 40 kilometers away from Velyka Pysarivka, where they were transferred, as were several other residents of bombed areas.

On March 17, a neighbor who remained in the village called Zavaly at four in the morning. “‘Svitlana, hello (…)’. I said: ‘Vania, don’t tell me anything. It’s clear.’ the tears.

200 bombs

Almost all buildings in the center of Velyka Pysarivka were destroyed. Houses in neighborhoods closer to the border were also bombed, says Oleksei Bryl, deputy commander of the local police.

For 10 days, “we suffered constant explosions”, he told AFP. “Today the situation has stabilized and the bombings have decreased,” Bryl added during a visit to the village, which had 4,000 inhabitants before the war.

Fighting began on March 12. On this day, Russia announced that it prevented several attacks from Ukraine against two border regions. The clashes lasted several days and then the incursions were stopped.

During two weeks, Velyka Pysarivka and neighboring locations were the target of 567 attacks, 200 of them carried out with guided aerial bombs, with great destructive power, according to a report released on Tuesday by regional authorities. Six people died and 12 were injured.

“We left on the 14th, a Thursday… from hell. We were being bombed, planes were flying over the city,” said Valentina, a 67-year-old resident who did not reveal her surname. She was also taken to Okhtyrka.

Oleksei Moroz, 38, who also followed his family to Okhtyrka, said he “understood that when the pro-Kiev (Russian Freedom Legion) fighters entered (in Kozinka, Russia), a boomerang effect would happen,” with Russian bombings.

‘Stupid idea’

“On the 13th, the air attacks began. In the early hours of the 13th to the 14th, (Moscow forces) attacked without interruption. On the morning of the 14th, we were taken by bus under intense bombardment (…) It was impossible to stay”, says Moroz’s wife, Yulia Drokina, 33 years old, alongside her children.

Asked about the reason that led the pro-Kiev fighters to carry out the incursions, several residents cited the rumor that Russian troops were concentrated on the border and preparing an attack.

“We were afraid that if the (anti-Kremlin Russian) battalion didn’t act, we could be occupied,” Drokina said. But some did not express support for the operations of Kiev-backed fighters.

Sitting in a wheelchair and with a cigarette in his mouth, a 69-year-old resident with an amputated leg said the border incursions were a “stupid idea.”

“We have fewer people than them (the Russians) and less equipment (…) They detect you immediately with a drone”, adds the resident, who did not reveal his name.

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