Terrible events in Narodytskyi hromada: Russians terrorized civilians, robbed and killed

Korostensky District is the largest district in Zhytomyr Oblast that was largely affected by the Russian occupation, 7 villages inhabited by local residents were occupied here. For two months, the Russians terrorized the civilians of the Narodytsk community, looted their homes, shot people and mined the territories. However, despite the horrors of war, there is a life-giving source of hope and aspiration for a better future.

Yulia Khomenko, a journalist of IA “FAKT” went to the north of Zhytomyr Oblast and talked with local residents about the events they experienced.

Oleg Yarmolyuk, the head of the Naroditska community, recalls:

“In our community, settlements where people lived were captured – these are Stara Radcha, Radcha, Nova Radcha, Grezlya and Davydky. They were under occupation from the first days to April 4. These are also the settlements of Rovba, Tychkiv, and Vilhova, where people did not live at the time of the occupation. Another settlement, Rubezhivka, was under occupation for 2-3 days. As soon as the Russian troops left, electricity and gas were restored there within two weeks. This process was complicated by mining. In total, there were up to 400 people in those settlements. In the first days, when the Russian troops left, we brought humanitarian aid, and we counted more than 50 people. We called on local residents not to rush back to their homes, because demining continued. Now almost 90% of the population has returned. In many houses, which, at first glance, are visually intact, batteries, walls, roofs, windows have been blown out, and even trees have been damaged. The forest was the most affected, even though it was not occupied, because rockets and mortars were fired here, and there were as many debris from the hurricanes on the field as there were mushrooms in the forest. This is not an exaggeration, but the truth. In the villages that were occupied, the armed forces of the Russian Federation conducted a search, that is, many houses were robbed. They literally took out all the household items, clothes and even food from the refrigerators. Demining is still going on now, because the Russians mined a large area of ​​the territory.” 

Iryna Nevmerzhytska, clerk of the Zalisky Starostyn district, notes:

“More than 100 objects were damaged in Narodytskyi hromada. In Stara Radcha, during the stay of Russian troops there, two residents were shot. The body of one of them was taken, and only one bone remained from the second. Also, a whole family was blown up on a stretcher that the occupiers had specially installed. People survived, but were seriously injured. They were taken to Belarus for treatment. Almost everything was restored, but some houses were rebuilt by people at their own expense.”  

79-year-old Sofiya Dekhtyarenko from Narodytska hromada lived in the village during the occupation. The Russians deliberately fired at her house from a helicopter.

“When the war started, we were sleeping, and then my son came running and shouted: “We have to go!” I did not see the occupiers, but I saw how the tanks drove. At first it was quiet, there were only enemy planes in the sky. We didn’t have light or electricity at the time of the occupation, but we had solar batteries, so people often came to us to charge their gadgets. The Russians somehow found out about this and started shelling our house from a helicopter at night. The man was in the house at the time of the shelling, and he was hit. I heard screams, ran into the house, and he is lying in blood. I lay down on him and say: “I will die with you.” He asked me to leave, but I didn’t want to, so I lay with him. 

Then they started shooting even more from the helicopter. The windows flew out, there was fog all around. I was also injured, I ran out and started calling for help. Neighbors called, pulled the man out and helped me. However, my husband did not survive, the injuries were very serious. We buried him in our yard, and a few days later I and my fellow villagers began to run away through the woods to the nearest settlement. That’s how she was saved. Our house was almost completely destroyed, we rebuilt everything ourselvesand”.

Serhiy, a resident of the village of Radcha, recalls with pain in his heart:

“They simply destroyed the people – they bombed the civilian population, just residential buildings. Opposite my mother-in-law’s house, Russian soldiers shot at point blank range a grandfather and grandmother, who were 60-65 years old. By the way, they are buried here. Grandfather was killed there by hail. We also buried it ourselves – you see, there is a cross in the yard. We didn’t go – we walked through the forest. I worked here in the forest for 11 years, so I know the trails. That’s how we left with my wife”. 

 Halyna, a resident of the village of Grezlya, says:

“I cry every day, and I cried, and I prayed to God. They are inhumans! It was very difficult, as they arrived, and scary. People left who had nothing. And I have a cow and a piglet, chickens, 8 cats, 2 dogs.  My grandfather’s leg hurt, we wanted to go to the hospital, but we couldn’t. The worst thing was when they found moonshine, and then shot from tanks, even at their own. Their army only knows how to rob, litter and kill civilians. My husband’s leg was amputated because help was not provided in time. They also came to us and asked for food, we could not refuse to give, because it was scary“.

It should be added that the state provides assistance to the victims, but people have to rebuild a lot on their own.