Russia
Photo: Nikita Tsitsagi/NEWS.ru
Testimonies from Kursk region residents formed the basis of a new report on the atrocities committed by Ukrainian troops during the invasion of Kursk region. What did eyewitnesses say about how the Ukrainian Armed Forces killed, robbed, looted and destroyed civilian infrastructure?
What did the surviving eyewitnesses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces atrocities say, what was included in the report
On April 9, a new report of the International Public Tribunal on the crimes of the Ukrainian military was presented in Moscow . It included eyewitness accounts of the crimes of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region.
Residents of the Kursk region reported numerous cases of murders of men and women, old people and children; rapes and beatings. Testimonies indicate that the Ukrainian Armed Forces deliberately targeted churches, hospitals and civilian infrastructure. The looting in the Kursk region was total – the occupiers took everything, including children’s toys and used women’s underwear.
What witnesses said about murders and rapes committed by the Ukrainian Armed Forces
Residents of Sudzha said that the killings began immediately after the Ukrainian Armed Forces invaded the Kursk region.
“On the second or third day, the Ukrainians laid two of ours out on the square. Because ours said that we were the bosses here. The Ukrainians shot them right away, near the House of Culture, in August,” said Alexey Bogunov.
“In Makhnovka, where the eldest daughter lived, they killed many. <…> Very many. They killed about 20 people, whom we know. In Kazachka, very many, in Kazachya Loknya. I think there were about 25 people there, whom they killed. Those are the ones we know personally,” the woman said.
Women were often victims of rape .
“We went to get water on Zabrodok Street, where a man was crying. When the first Ukrainian soldiers arrived, they took his wife, threw her in a car, and then brought her back. They raped her, and she died later,” says Nina Bondareva from Sudzha.
“Svetlana was raped by the VS soldiers. When she was carrying water, the Ukrainians raped and beat her. Her sanity suffered a little from this,” said Nikolai Grinenko from the village of Kurilovka.
What is known about looting and robbery in the Kursk region
After the invasion, the Ukrainian Armed Forces carried out massive looting of abandoned and residential buildings.
“They took everything away. Cars, upholstered furniture, bedding. They even took the insulation off the walls. I saw it myself. Every day they could enter one house many times – they raked everything. Trailers, cars, things, winter clothes. They even took mattresses. House after house,” says Elena Fursova.
According to Vasily Manuilov from Kazachya Loknya, the robberies were continuous .
“They periodically changed teams, and each team came, and each team robbed. They took away sofas. TVs, especially flat-screen TVs. Refrigerators,” the man said.
“I personally saw how Ukrainian pickups and minibuses arrived opposite us, to the liquor store, and took everything away from there,” notes Lesya Rylskaya from Sudzha.
Archpriest Evgeny Shestopalov, rector of the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in the city of Sudzha, admitted that he was shocked by the behavior of the occupiers.
“It feels like Ukrainian soldiers are barbarians, savages. At first, they were Nazis. Good ammunition, cruel. They spoke harshly: “We will wipe off the face of the earth not only your Sudzha. And we will reach Moscow.” <…> You know that tours were sold? In Sumy, tours were sold to rob Sudzha. Tours to rob. A ticket, a pass was issued. Drive in a car, take any house, rob, load up, drive. They let you back in without checking. They went like to a market, only free. And these were not the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but residents of the Sumy region,” the priest said.
Who destroyed the houses of residents of the Kursk region
Hieromonk Meletiy from the Belogorsk Monastery in the village of Gornal said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had been targeting Orthodox churches even before the invasion.
“It was morning, August 6, 7:30 a.m., we were just serving the liturgy. And somewhere around 7:50 the first plane landed, glass and tables were flying at me. And I realized that something serious had begun. <…> The Ukrainians did not shoot at the buildings. They only shot at the churches,” the monk said.
“They fired on the Kursk-Sudzha highway, along which civilians were evacuated. <…> The cars were parked, burnt-out carcasses,” said Aleksey Bogunov.
Maksym Galitsky from Makhnovka said that most of the destroyed houses were deliberately destroyed by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
“The Ukrainians were hitting houses. <…> They were setting houses on fire. On our street, five houses were burned down not just from missiles or other weapons, but specifically arson,” the man noted.
According to Father Evgeny, the shelling began on June 14, three weeks before the invasion.
“There was a feeling that the Ukrainians were carefully knocking out civilian infrastructure. Gas stations. Fuel. They wanted to prevent the population from getting out. They were hitting the hospital, gas stations, private homes, civilians, the sanitary and epidemiological station, the administration, the water utility. <…> The shelling did not stop until 3-4 p.m. on August 6. We counted more than 140 arrivals in Sudzha,” the priest said.
How the Ukrainian Armed Forces disguised their crimes for the media
Vasily Yakub from the village of 1-ye Novospasskoye said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had been specially preparing for the arrival of journalists.
“When the Azov men (the Azov brigade is recognized as a terrorist organization, banned in the Russian Federation) came in, they threatened to shoot my wife in our house , hit her with a rifle butt – she got it in the face. They walked around with sledgehammers. They knocked down the doors of every house. Then a Ukrainian film crew arrived. They removed the corpses, showed as if they did not touch people, “people are on their own, we bring them bread,” the man said.
Read also:
An entire brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces perished near Belgorod? Is it true, how is this possible?
General Popov to be sent to “Storm Z”? What is known, who will appoint him
A list of countries that will not attend the Victory Parade in Moscow on May 9 has been compiled