Around 130 people spent weeks sheltering from the bombing in a school basement in war-torn Chernihiv, north-west of Kyiv, after troops took men, women and children from their homes at gunpoint
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Ukraine: Soldiers discuss fight for their land against Russia
Traumatised Ukrainians have described how terrified children were forced to sleep next to decaying dead bodies in a tiny room in a village seized by Russian troops.
Mykola Klymchuk, 60, has spoken of the horrors he witnessed after being forced to stay in the school basement in war-torn Chernihiv.
Around 130 people spent four weeks sheltering from the shellings north-west of Kyiv.
Soldiers took men, women and children from their homes at gunpoint and held them in the small basement.
Mr Klymchuk told the BBC how youngsters were sleeping in the same room as the dead and the dying last month.
Chernihiv suffered weeks and weeks of attacks
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“During my time here, 12 people died,” Mykola said as he re-visited the basement where he and his family were kept.
“Sometimes the soldiers took people out to use them as shields.
“In normal conditions, they would not have died but I kept thinking to myself, I have to survive – I have to, for my daughter and two granddaughters.”
When people perished, the bodies couldn’t immediately be removed from the basement.
Most of the time, those trapped were not allowed to go out even to use a toilet, he said.
Thousands of people suffered unimaginable trauma as troops moved in
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His daughter Anastasiia, 15, survived but is still suffering from the stress of spending weeks under siege.
She said she knew people who had died “for no reason” as she suffered mentally in the aftermath.
After their failure to take Kyiv, the Russians have withdrawn from Chernihiv.
Putin’s soldiers also destroyed a bridge on the road to the capital Kyiv, cutting the village off.
Since the troops departed, volunteers have been burying the dead and trying to re-build the area.
Now residents are trying to piece back the village’s buildings following Russian withdrawal
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Image:
REUTERS)
At the time, footage shot in besieged Chernihiv showed ten lifeless bodies after Russian thugs reportedly fired on the group as they waited in line for food.
US embassy officials tweeted: “Today, Russian forces shot dead and killed ten people standing in line for bread in Chernihiv.
“Such horrific attacks must stop. We are considering all available options to ensure accountability for any atrocity crimes in Ukraine.”
In mid-March, three bombers were shot down in the area.
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