‘He raised his machine gun and started shooting at’

I am now retired. I live with my wife, my daughter, my son and two grandchildren. My son lives on the first floor of the house and my daughter and grandchildren live with me and my wife on the ground floor.

Could you have imagined that there would be a full-scale war?

I discussed it with my son. He said there would be a war, and I said it wouldn’t happen. I even bet on it. I thought they (the Russians) were brotherly people, but they turned out to be murderers. I was not prepared. I saw the news on TV and our president said there would be no war, Russia would not attack Ukraine. There were such talks. I felt calm until the end.

What was the first day of the war like for you?

I woke up and heard explosions. My son and daughter got up, took the children and later fled to western Ukraine. My wife and I stayed. We bought what we needed in the local shop: bread, etc. But nothing else. I didn’t even withdraw cash from my credit card. We didn’t have much money, so we had almost nothing to withdraw.

When the war started, people left the village. There were a lot of buses with the sign “Children” written on them. People left the neighbouring villages too: Shevchenkove, Rudnia, Tarasivka. People went through our village and left, but we didn’t go anywhere. So, we stayed at home.

Why didn’t you evacuate?

The war seemed to have started, but we didn’t believe it was a real war. Until they (the Russian military) came to our village on the 8th of March. We just saw their tanks turning into the road and driving on. About ten, maybe 15 tanks went by. We didn’t count, we just looked out the window and hid. What if they fired? And then, on the 9th of March, they left the village. While they were driving through the village, we were sitting in the basement.

I opened the door, looked out and counted 88 units of equipment. There were APCs, “Katyushas” (multiple rocket launchers), tanks, etc.

They left, but returned about an hour and a half later. They were defeated at Skybyn (a village in Kyiv Region). Only 13 units of equipment came back. We went to the neighbour’s house. The neighbour said that the Russians had shot at his car. We looked at his car and then went home. I went behind my shed and there was a Russian tank stopped right between my house and the shed. I put my hands up to show that I was surrendering, and he (the Russian soldier) raised his machine gun and started shooting at me.

One bullet went through my body, another hit my knee and one more bullet hit my hat. It tore the hat and scratched my temple. It’s a miracle I survived. I got to the basement and got medical help. Thank God there were some medicines, including antibiotics. And from the 9th to the 19th of March, we ran between the basement and the house: when the Russians were shooting, we hid in the basement; when they weren’t shooting, we were in the house. I walked on crutches because my body hurt. Local women gave me antibiotics and other medicines, and my wounds healed. Of course, if it wasn’t for the women who treated me, the wounds would have festered. They gave me medicine morning and night. Then, on the 19th of March, we were evacuated from the village. Our neighbour took us by car and we left for Brovary (a town in Kyiv Region). We went straight to the town hall; I had a friend who worked there. He took me to the local hospital. I stayed in the hospital from the 19th of March to the 7th of April. On the 7th of April my friend took me home. I told him that my wounds were not completely healed, but he replied: “There are many wounded people like you, but there is not enough room for all of them”.

Were there many wounded in the hospital?

There was a man from Bohdanivka, his heel was shattered. The doctors amputated his leg. There was another man from Bohdanivka, his leg was also amputated. He went to his garden and stepped on a mine. He injured his leg and gangrene set in. He was in hospital for about four days and died there. And the first man had his leg amputated, but the doctors fitted him with a prosthesis.

Did the Russian military enter Bohdanivka on the 8th of March?

Yes, they did. They were going to go to Kyiv on the 9th of March. I saw their tanks on our road. That’s when I counted 88 units of their equipment. And then they were defeated near Skybyn, so they came back. Some fled to Dymerka (a village in Kyiv Region), and some came back to our village. They came to our house: they searched us, even looked for weapons. How could my wife and I have weapons? I told them that the Russians had shot at me, and he (a Russian soldier) replied that the Ukrainians had shot at me, not the Russians. Am I blind or stupid?! Don’t I know that it was the Russians who shot at me?

There was a Russian soldier on the tank. When I appeared, he raised his machine gun and started shooting at me.

The soldier said that a paramedic would come to me to treat my wounds. They (the Russian soldier and the paramedic) came to check on me and gave me some medicines. They said they would take me to the hospital later. I asked: “The one in Brovary?” — They replied: “No, to bobrovytsia (a town in Chernihiv Region)”. I said I would not go there. The next day they came again and I said again that I would not go there. I said that the wound was already healing, although in fact it was not healing quickly. I was afraid that they would either take me to Russia or, even worse, take me in their APC to some unknown place. And how would our military know that there is a Ukrainian in a Russian APC? They would accidentally shoot both the Russian APC and me. So, I refused to go with the Russians. Thank God I stayed at home. In the end everything turned out well, the wound did not fester. It was good that the local women had medicine, and they cured me. And that’s how we all hid in the basement, sitting on bare mattresses.

How did you get to the basement when you were shot?

Very slowly and carefully.

Did you lose a lot of blood?

Sure I did. When I got to the basement, the women there covered my wounds with clean rags. There were explosions above, we didn’t leave the basement. Later we went back into the house. I started taking antibiotics, that’s how I survived. Without them, anything could have happened to me. The wound would have festered for sure if I hadn’t taken the medicine.

What happened in Bohdanivka when the Russians came?

A shell hit a house near the kindergarten and the wall fell down. At that moment a woman was in the house with her husband and her mother. The wall fell and the woman’s spine was broken. And the man had one or two shrapnel in his arm. He even showed me the shrapnel. They were both with me in the hospital. We were evacuated together on the same day. The Russians put their military equipment near the houses. They tore down fences and drove into the yards. For example, there was military equipment near our neighbour’s house. There’s a three-storey house over there, so there was a tank nearby and a sniper sitting on top of the house.

Were you allowed to leave the house?

The Russians told us not to go outside. Our neighbour was in the basement with us, so she went out. She had to look after her cow. But nobody else went out. One day a man was driving his car and suddenly he saw Russian tanks coming towards him. He turned the car around and started to drive back. He was driving a white jeep, so they (the Russian military) shot at the jeep. This happened on the 8th or 9th of March. So, we were afraid and did not go anywhere.

Was Bohdanivka shelled?

Yes, it was shelled. One day I was standing near my house and suddenly something exploded nearby, but I didn’t know where exactly. And I heard shrapnel falling on the roof of the house. Then I immediately hid in the basement.

Were there any problems with electricity and gas?

We had both electricity and gas until about the 8th of March. Then the electricity was cut off. And then, on the 8th of March, a shell fell somewhere. It hit a pipe and we had no gas. The gas came back when I came home from the hospital, after the 7th of April. So, we had no electricity or gas for about a month.

The Russians went around the houses and checked them. They asked if we had weapons, they even checked our first floor. My wife opened the door. They looked at how far the view was from the window and left. They probably wanted to put their sniper there. I wasn’t at home at the time, I was in hospital.

When you went to the hospital, did your wife stay at home?

Yes, she stayed at home.

What did she tell?

Well, she and our neighbour managed to run away. They lived in another house for about three days.

Why did they run away?

There was constant shelling and it wasn’t safe. But there was hardly any shelling in the place where they run away. So, they lived there for a while. They had a basement and heating there. And then, on the 29th of March, when the Russians were fleeing into the woods, they started shooting very heavily. My wife told me it was very frightening. Thank God they survived.

Many houses were destroyed in Bohdanivka?

Many houses were destroyed. The school was burnt down, the kindergarten and the hospital were destroyed. Everything in the hospital was turned upside down. Obviously, the Russians were looking for something there. When I evacuated, I saw a neighbour’s car with its windows shot out. People also said that the Russians caught a man in Rudnya (a village in Kyiv Region) and beat him, but he managed to run away and that’s how he survived. We had two shops here, both burnt down. One was a grocery store and the other was the metallic one. Around the 12th of March the Russians came and started shooting. The metallic shop caught fire, the fire spread to the grocery store, and both shops burned down. The Russians caused a lot of suffering. They even burned someone’s tractor and backhoe. That’s what I know.

What about your possessions?

Everything is fine. My wife was at home, so nothing was stolen. We were lucky. The only bad thing that I was shot.

How do you feel now?

I’m fine, but sometimes it feels like someone is sticking three or four needles into my leg. The wound has healed, but there is still no proper blood circulation in the leg. Sometimes it still hurts.

What are your plans for the future?

I want to move on. I think those idiots (the Russian military) will be kicked out of our country! I think our victory will come soon and everything will be fine. Everyone hopes so. I think America and the West will help us. And everything will be fine.

Has your attitude towards the Russians changed?

I hate those Russians! They always talk about “brotherly nations”, but what kind of brothers are they to us?! They’re freaks, that’s who they are! They’re not our Slavic brothers, they’re Russian murderers! That’s what I can tell you. Haven’t they mocked people enough? Haven’t they killed enough people? Haven’t they destroyed enough of our houses? Our cars? Our children? They’re not fighting soldiers, they’re fighting people — civilians who have done them no harm. They kill and torture. And Putin and everybody else is to blame! It’s the Russian army’s fault too! Their soldiers could have said openly that they wouldn’t shoot. Wouldn’t they? I think so. But they came to our country and shot at us... Why do they kill civilians? Why do they kill and torture our children? I read in the news that they raped a 14-year-old girl somewhere... Why are they doing this to our children? It’s all their fault, all of Russia’s fault! There are no innocents there.

Translation: International Society for Human Rights (German Section)