Chernihiv region after the occupation: what Ukrainians said about the liberators

"There were very big battles here. There’s a house three meters away from the road, and the heavy equipment moves past, the whole house sways and portraits are falling from the walls. It was scary. And as they ride, four sit on top, with weapons.  The minute we hear them coming, we hide quickly, because when they catch sight of you, -- what’s it to him? He just pulls the trigger and that's it," said a local grandmother.

People lived under occupation for almost a month. The "liberators" interrogated and detained local men, looking for weapons. "They came, blindfolded me, put a hat on my head… me, my brother, my father, and my friends still lived at my place. They ordered us to get on our knees and -- here, let's shoot over their heads, and ask where the weapons are,” recounted a local young man.  His father was taken prisoner by the Russians and detained for several weeks. Fortunately, the man was able to escape when the bombing damaged the building where he was being held.

People, with tears in their eyes, showed the places where right in their yards, right near the walls of houses, Russians installed mortars to fire on roads.  They showed shell fragments, bomb fragments, they described how their houses were shelled, and how they "sat in their cellars with their children for two days. None of the children undressed or changed their clothes for a month, because of the constant shooting."

The UGCC priests delivered humanitarian aid to the locals, supported them with kind words and group prayer, and promised to return soon with another humanitarian delivery.

Information Department of the UGCC