"Memory should not fade, but the city cannot remain like a cemetery," says Ruslan Savchuk, a participant of the Irpen Reconstruction Summit, focusing on the so-called "car cemetery" on the way out from the city.
On the outskirts of the city of Irpin, Kyiv region, a mountain of rusty cars, destroyed during the Russian occupation, has gathered. Some of them are gaping with bullet holes. These cars were abandoned by civilians fleeing from Irpen: the bridge was destroyed to stop the Russian advance, so they had to go on foot.
After the release of Irpen, local authorities allowed Ukrainian and American artists to paint cars. Their photos were later turned into digital assets and the proceeds from the sale went towards the reconstruction. But some local residents, including Ruslan, are not happy with the idea of "embellishing a tragedy".
The future of the "car cemetery" and many other reconstruction projects is a constant topic of discussion. Despite the rocket attacks and the threat of repeated destruction, Ukraine is not waiting for the end of the war to begin reconstruction. This is a rather controversial approach, but not the only one possible for the residents of the liberated territories.
Irpin suffered the greatest destruction at the beginning of the war, when the advance of the Russian army to the capital was stopped in the city. 70% of Irpen's infrastructure was damaged, and 16,358 residents were left homeless: 119 high-rise buildings and 1,483 private houses, medical facilities, schools and kindergartens, water pipes, municipal special equipment and the city's Champion stadium were destroyed.
Legend of Ukrainian football and former star of the football club "Milan" Andriy Shevchenko collected a significant amount for reconstruction - 150,000 euros at a charity event in Milan, another 150,000 and 100,000 euros selected FC Milan and FC Shakhtar.
During the year of reconstruction, 412 residents of high-rise buildings and 322 residents of private houses were supported, and 4,787 windows were replaced. Governments of various countries, sister cities, international foundations and ordinary citizens from Ukraine and abroad joined this.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) allocated 4.8 million euros for the reconstruction of the Irpin Lyceum No. 3.
"Imagine, we called UNICEF and said that we need 5 million euros for the reconstruction of the lyceum, and the next day we received the money!" There were many letters, meetings, negotiations, days and weeks of hard work," recalls Volodymyr Karpluk, founder of the Irpenyi Restoration Fund.
The Irpenia Reconstruction Fund is a public organization that, together with the city authorities, conducts calculations, rebuilds social and residential infrastructure, and attracts funds from the international community and charitable funds. The organization, together with the Investment Council, created the IRPIN HELP information portal - a database on the destruction and restoration of Irpen and international partners involved in the reconstruction. You can also send a donation through the portal.
One of the foundation's projects – the Irpin Reconstruction Summit – is working on the design of Freedom Square, museum and library buildings, the Cultural Center and other facilities. In the city, which before the war was called the Ukrainian Parnassus due to its rich artistic heritage, the House of Culture suffered perhaps the greatest destruction.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) allocated 4.8 million euros for the reconstruction of the Irpin Lyceum No. 3.
"Imagine, we called UNICEF and said that we need 5 million euros for the reconstruction of the lyceum, and the next day we received the money!" There were many letters, meetings, negotiations, days and weeks of hard work," recalls Volodymyr Karpluk, founder of the Irpenyi Restoration Fund.
The Irpenia Reconstruction Fund is a public organization that, together with the city authorities, conducts calculations, rebuilds social and residential infrastructure, and attracts funds from the international community and charitable funds. The organization, together with the Investment Council, created the IRPIN HELP information portal - a database on the destruction and restoration of Irpen and international partners involved in the reconstruction. You can also send a donation through the portal.
One of the foundation's projects – the Irpin Reconstruction Summit – is working on the design of Freedom Square, museum and library buildings, the Cultural Center and other facilities. In the city, which before the war was called the Ukrainian Parnassus due to its rich artistic heritage, the House of Culture suffered perhaps the greatest destruction.
Bucha was practically cleared of ruins a year and three months after the deoccupation. This is a small town 30 km from Kyiv, a symbol of the brutality of the Russian army.
Here civilians were shot with their hands tied. One of the first victims was thundera citizen of Russia who asked the Russian military why they were going to Ukraine. Later, it became clear that the Russians had prepared everything in advance for the occupation of Buchi - they rented a warehouse in the city to stock up on food before the war. For 33 days, the city suffered from terror, torture, rapes, robberies and shootings. The streets were covered with corpses. The morgue was overcrowded, the cemetery outside the city was constantly bombarded.
In the courtyard of the church of St. Andrew the First-Called Apostle, at the place of the fraternal burial, there is now a bas-relief of the Virgin Mary. The townspeople bring flowers and toys there, light candles.
The occupation left deep traces in the villages and towns of the Buchan district. "Help rebuild our home", "We want to live here", "Exclude Russia from the UN Security Council" are just some of the slogans written on the destroyed buildings of Borodyanka.
The population of Buchi before the war was about 38,000 people, and only 5,000 residents remained under Russian occupation. Now 90% of residents have returned. In addition, Bucha received about 8,000 refugees from the eastern regions of Ukraine.
"Now everything seems to have normalized," says 63-year-old Vasyl, who left Buchi on February 24, 2022, and returned at the end of April. But it turns out that it is easier to hide the traces of war in buildings than in people's memories:
Neonila, 83 years old: "People fainted at the sight of Russian soldiers. We did not dare to leave the porches. We were terribly scared. They shot everywhere. Less frequent during the day, but from 5:30 p.m. to midnight the shelling intensified. They shot for 20 minutes to half an hour. Then they rested for about the same amount, reloaded their guns and continued... To go out meant to be killed. The streets were littered with corpses, the orcs did not even allow them to be buried. Our guys collected the corpses and buried them in a mass grave. Andriy was a chorister in our church. They killed him, his mother, father and two of their young neighbors - hit them with a tank, threw them into a pit, covered them with branches and burned them. Many residents, especially children and women, left the city. This is the right choice. It is good that other countries have adopted them. We are old, we could not go. We lived in constant fear. And it's all because of a madman who decided to start a war."
Hennadiy Andriyev, 86 years old: "I was a schoolboy during the Second World War. We lived in the fascist-occupied Luhansk district. We hid in a cellar and one German soldier gave us bread. I remember it well. Not all Germans were fascists. These [Russian soldiers] are the worst people. I have lived 86 years and have never seen such savagery and cruelty. Putin crossed all limits. This is a mockery of humanity."
Vasyl, 63 years old: "There is no question of "forgiveness". It didn't even occur to me that such a thing could be done in Ukraine. Didn't we consider each other brothers...? The aggressor is jealous of Ukraine. They do not want to live in a European way. They still dream of that unwanted union. But we have already passed through the Soviet Union and we don't need this".
Moscow still denies involvement in war crimes, despite evidence, exhumations, photographs from satellites and foreign journalists, and numerous witnesses. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Sergey Lavrov, said that the terrible footage from Buchi is an ordinary show.
"I suggest that Lavrov come and see with his own eyes what the Russian army has done. I am sure that he will have to pass through Bucha on the way to The Hague," said the Mayor of Bucha, Anatoly Fedoruk.
According to Kyiv, 1,346 civilians died in Bucha, including 37 children. It is known about 9,000 committed war crimes.
Source of information — EU NEIGHBOURSEAST
Author: Nino Chichua
* Nino Chichua visited Kyiv as part of a press tour for Georgian and Moldovan journalists, organized by EU NEIGHBOURS east in partnership with the international media NGO n-ost. The purpose of the trip is to promote the exchange of experience and cross-border cooperation between journalists from Ukraine, the EU and the Eastern Partnership countries, as well as to support the importance of the topic of Ukraine and bring it back to the attention of the leading mass media of the Eastern Partnership countries.