‘My husband was killed in front of my eyes’: Elderly survivors recall crimes of Ukrainian occupa
Russian forces recently liberated around 30 settlements in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces had looted stores, stolen vehicles, and, according to witnesses who have spoken to RT, killed civilians. Residents from Kazachya Loknya have recounted their experiences, following several months under occupation by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).One local woman told RT that her husband had been murdered in cold blood by Ukrainian troops. Another was forced to abandon her home.Both still find it difficult to comprehend how they survived a brutal occupation.Daily struggles and threats”When the Ukrainians entered Kazachya Loknya, they began firing randomly. Two people were killed near the store. And when they retreated, they set many houses ablaze. It was absolute hell,” Tatiana Ivanenko, 64, said. How Russian soldiers crushed Ukrainian defenses in SudzhaUnable to escape the village before the Ukrainian force arrived, Ivanenko endured 218 days under occupation until Russian soldiers retook Kazachya Loknya.”We slept on the floor in our neighbors’ hallway; I was afraid to sleep in my bed. All our windows were blown out, and we boarded them up after every shelling to block out the cold. Ukrainian forces distributed food rations once every two months, and we fetched water from a well,” she recounted.According to Ivanenko, Ukrainian forces took control of Kazachya Loknya on the night of August 7, 2024.”My daughter called me the morning before it happened – she lived with her family in Sudzha – and pleaded with me to leave for Kursk. I told her, ‘They’ll fire some shots, and it will calm down.’ But the next morning, stepping onto my porch, I heard Ukrainian voices and saw soldiers with blue armbands. I realized the Nazis had reached our village, and it was too late to flee,” Tatiana said.Looting, violence, and fearShe described how, once established, Ukrainian forces turned to looting and violence.”Our neighbor Artem, who used to work for the Ministry of Emergency Situations, had his tire shop completely stripped clean. Grocery stores were broken into and robbed. Thankfully, we had some canned preserves,” she said.“Another neighbor’s car was stolen after Ukrainian troops broke into his house. One soldier threatened him, saying, ‘I’m a convict; I killed my father and seven others, and I can shoot you easily.’ He put a rifle to my neighbor’s head and took his keys.”Two people Ivanenko knew personally were killed by the Ukrainians. “When the occupation first began, my neighbor went to church and never returned. Ukrainian soldiers shot him on his way,” she recalled. “Another neighbor was killed by a drone strike right outside his gate while fetching firewood. After that, we were terrified to step outside.”In December, Tatiana was forced to leave her home after Ukrainian soldiers installed electronic warfare equipment directly in her yard. “They set up a large device with rotating antennas and hid in our cellar to avoid airstrikes,” she explained. Shells repeatedly struck her house, leaving it half-destroyed.
Admin | 2025-03-24 18:19:27