Olha Lasa says that after the occupation of the village Velyka Dymerka, the Russians drove a tank into her garden and hid in the cellar, kicking her, the owner, out into the street. A large hospitable house, where children and grandchildren visited, burned down.

Yurii Pladko is a pensioner from Makariv (Buchanskyi district, Kyiv Region). The war brought much grief to his family. The man tells about the invaders: “They didn’t look who was there — child or adult — they just shot whoever they wanted...”

Mariupol is one of the main symbols of the Russian army's war crimes in Ukraine. The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group is engaged in documenting crimes and helping the victims. Oleksandra Netkacheva survived many shellings of the city. Unfortunately, her husband was injured during one of them and died in the hospital.

Pensioner Mykola Perepelytsia lives in Krasnopillia (Donetsk region). His village has been subjected to numerous airstrikes. He says: “An aircraft came every morning, smashing houses and tearing down roofs”.

Oleksandra lived in the Mykolaiv region. By 24 February, she was 32 weeks pregnant. Together with her husband, they moved to the hospital where they worked, but the Russians shelled it too. The woman with the baby was forced to go down to the basement 12 times only 36 hours after giving birth.

A resident from Kherson tells how the city lived during the first days of the Russian occupation.

Oksana is a teacher of Russian language and literature. When Mariupol was shelled, she felt as if her heart was turning into a small bird. It was painful to look at the blackened houses and the faces of the neighbors that faded from the war and seemed to have been erased.

Oleksandr, the code name “Typhoon”, has been fighting since the age of 24. Having survived captivity after Ilovaisk, he will not be captured again.

We spoke with Olha Leus from Mariupol at the YaMariupol center in Lviv, where the Kharkiv human rights group came to help Mariupol residents who live in Lviv after leaving their hometown.

Ruslan, a fighter from the “Azov” brigade, speaks about his way to “Azov”, a book that changed his worldview, an actual image of Ukraine, and a feeling of support and victory.

Iryna Kravchenko is a resident of Rubizhne. In 2014, the invaders retreated, leaving behind devastation and mined forests. In 2022, they returned and practically destroyed the city.

A resident of Popasna, Ivan Hnatenko, hid in the basement for 38 days. One day a rocket hit his house. He collected snow in buckets with his neighbors, trying to extinguish the fire, but the house burned down. The Russians plundered his son and daughter's property. He says that he will not wish such a fate to the enemy.

Kateryna Mykula escaped with her three children from Mariupol. She tells how they lived in a basement, cooked on a fire, and most of all they were afraid of the enemy aircraft because in an airbomb crater even a “KAMAZ” (large truck) could hide — so big this crater was. The interview was prepared by Lviv journalist Taras Zozulinskiy.

Squirrels, four cats, a dog, guinea pigs — with all this wealth, future veterina-rian Oksana Lopatiuk escaped from a burning house.

Marіia Petrivna has long retired; she has two daughters, a son, and six great-grandchildren. She ended up under Russian occupation with her son, and the Russians set up a headquarters next to her house. Mariia urged the Russian military to remember God and not disturb the villagers.

Meshcheriakova Tetiana was evacuated from the village of Seredne to Kramatorsk, to her mother. “Once it hit so hard that it blew out the windows, and then it hit again… Then we decided not to tempt fate and evacuate to Lviv,” — says Tetiana.

Svitlana Hryhorivna used to live in the village of Yakovlivka, Bakhmut district. The woman says the place was perfect, and its inhabitants prospered. Now the village has been destroyed by the Russian military. The house of a seventy-year-old pensioner and her three sisters homes have been burned.

This is the story of Nataliia from Bakhmut. In 2014, she and her husband saw the burning Sloviansk and the “referendum” conducted by Russians who landed from KamAZ trucks. Then, on 24 February 2022, they heard the first explosions while looking for where to withdraw their pension. They left on 7 April from the railway station in Kramatorsk, the day before the tragedy.

Iryna Korniichuk lived in Lysychansk. She saw Severodonetsk shelled and looked for food and medicine. She lost friends and almost lost her children — the dog saved them.

Oleksandr Skrypnichenko, a Vovchansk city council member, and his wife Nataliia refused to work with the Russians. A married couple tells about searches, life under occupation, and emotions on the day the north of Kharkiv Region was liberated.