Yaroslav Maksymchuk, trainer of local council deputies, spent 15 days with his family in the basement of their own house during the fiercest fighting.

Author: Dmytro Syniak

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From the first day of the war, the western suburbs of the capital became the scene of the largest battles. Yaroslav Maksymchuk, resident of Bucha, a town between Irpin and Gostomel, an expert in suffrage and trainer of local council deputies, and his family decided not to leave during the first days of the evacuation. Eventually, this became impossible due to heavy fighting that did not stop for a moment. Fifteen days later, in the basement of his home, Yaroslav decided to drive through a humanitarian corridor into Ukrainian-controlled territory. Now his story to Decentralisation portal about the horrors of occupation reminds of a confession. However, there are many practical points that can help people in this situation.

 

Had no time to leave

My wife, her parents, our two children and I lived in a private house in Bucha, the kids went to Bucha secondary school No 5. On the day the war broke out, the streets of the town were filled with refugees fleeing it. We decided not to run away. First, we thought that we would always have time to escape, because we have a car. Secondly, we considered that the Russians would not go to Bucha, because they were pushing from the north and from the northeast, and we are in the west from the capital. In addition, Bucha has no strategic or military infrastructure. After all, we had a good basement to sit in just in case. The decision to stay was our big mistake, because what happened next exceeded our expectations.

At first we saw a lot of helicopters over the neighbouring Gostomel. It never occurred to us that they were Russian, we were convinced that this was a “regrouping of the Ukrainian Armed Forces”. And then it started!

Shots were fired, helicopters were being shot down, and an assault plane flew fifty meters above our house. We were shocked. On the same day, my friend, his wife and daughter moved to us from the outskirts of Bucha, which is closer to Gostomel. So there were nine of us, and the next day we decided to leave the town anyway. However, it was too late: all the bridges were blown up, and the only remaining road was constantly shelled.

On February 25, we heard our army was destroying the Russian military column that was moving to Irpin down Vokzalna street. Then we saw the remains of this column returning down the neighbouring street, so I called the Ministry of Defence and informed about it. I think I was not the only one telling our army about the redeployment of the Russian troops, because later ours destroyed those retreating. Two hours later, we saw another Russian convoy heading in the direction of Vorzel, and then we heard ammunition detonating: there was nothing left of it either.

32 square meters of protection

Because of such active fightings, the basement of our 32-square-meter house became our home for fifteen (!) days. On the third day, the light went out in our house, and fortunately we had a supply of candles and flashlight batteries. We also had a car refueled, and I started it from time to time to at least charge the phone. It has now become the only tiny bridge connecting us with the world. However, it was scary to start the engine, because the Russians who invaded the city could hear the car working and start shooting at us. They fired at anything that aroused the slightest suspicion.

I was pleased to find an old push-button phone that could hold a charge for more than a week. Now we could no longer be afraid of being out of touch in the coming days. Thanks to this phone, I was able to understand what was happening around me, because I was calling everyone I knew. From time to time I also turned on my Android to scroll down the town chats. They were our main source of information.

Shells, mines and missiles

Because of the light shortage we were left without heating and water. However, the cold was not a big problem, because we had a lot of warm things in the house. Yes, we also stocked up on water, but after two weeks it ran out, and it was impossible to get some more. We cooked on wood in the summer kitchen, carefully making our way there through the garden. And when the shelling intensified, we cooked just in the basement using a gasoline blowtorch. We heated compotes and boiled potatoes. But it’s even hard for me to imagine how the residents of apartment buildings coped at that time having not only no bomb shelters, but even basements.

As I carefully made my way up, I could see Gostomel and Irpin burning from the window. Explosions were coming from there all the time. Mines, shells, missiles, planes and helicopters flew over our house in all directions…

The worst were the evenings and nights. Five hundred meters from our house there was a Russian mortar unit, which started firing mines just above our house as it was getting dark.

On February 28, we woke up to a terrible explosion. I turned on the Android and read in the town chat that “everything flew” to the house opposite us – that is about 30 meters across the road. It later turned out to be one of the stages of a cruise missile or a tornado volley fire system. This stage itself is separated from the warhead, when the missile has already flown a certain distance. And it fell straight into the yard of the neighbouring house, having tightly stuck into the concrete floor. And its plumage broke through the roof and flew into the children’s room. Fortunately, all the residents of this house left as soon as the war broke out, so no one was hurt. Several more stages fell on the neighbouring streets the same day.

On March 1, in the basement, we celebrated my daughter’s birthday. We heated some compote, congratulated her. Apparently, my daughter will remember this “holiday” for the rest of her life…

Occupants

Russian troops in Bucha behaved brazenly and presumptuously. They shot several local volunteers and activists. I don’t know who informed them, but they just came and shot people. Near the construction materials store, Russian soldiers also fired at a car riding under a white flag. They killed a man, his wife and their young daughter. As it turned out, this car drove to the intersection when a Russian tank convoy approached it, and the tankers did not hesitate to destroy the “suspicious car”. In the chats, it was written that the Russian military also did not let a doctor go and help a pregrant woman who had already started giving birth, and she delivered a child without any medical care.

Russians did not let anyone into the de-energized hospital with many elderly patients. And they burned the house with a poster on its facade: “ATO (anti-terrorist operation) participants can stay here”. Chats also wrote about Russian looters in Vorzel. In Lisova Bucha, Russians arranged their headquarters in the basement of the kindergarten, while tanks and armored personnel carriers were placed as close as possible to the residential buildings so that our soldiers could not shoot at them.

It’s good that we had a lot of supplies, but how did those people out of products live these two weeks? However, the residents of Bucha, communicating in the chats, did everything possible to help each other. Someone, for example, baked bread, and the other one brought him flour and yeast, collected from neighbours. We also gave our neighbours potatoes, which we had enough of. Some people exchanged products for batteries and fuel.

On March 8, Russians arranged mass inspections of Bucha residents, checking the content of the phones of everyone whom they managed to pull out of the basements. They were looking for any trace of espionage: photo, video, messages to the chats of the Ministry of Defence. This was told by a friend of mine, who decided to visit his house and was stopped on the street by a Russian patrol.

On March 9, the chat published an information on the possibility to leave Bucha by personal transport. People started gathering on the square near the town council in the morning. There were many of them, because Bucha was blocked quickly, and few managed to escape from the town. We did not go that day because we heard about the shelling at refugees by the Russian army. But when we learned that people had reached the territories controlled by the Ukrainian army without any problems, we decided to set off the next day. We couldn’t wait any longer, because we were practically left without any water and food. Besides, the night from March 9 to March 10 was the worst: the cannonade did not stop for a moment, and we did not close our eyes.

We left the keys to elderly neighbours, telling them to take any things or products they needed from our house.

I was stunned when I first saw Russian soldiers up close. Only their commander was well equipped, and everyone else resembled a logging crew, but instead of saws and axes they had machine guns, bulletproof vests and helmets. Twenty-year-old slender short Russian boys were not even in army boots, but in sneakers or shoes. At sub-zero temperatures. What kind of army is this? If these children had to spend the night in the field for a few days, I can imagine the fighting spirit they had.

At first, our column of refugees cautiously advanced to “Warsaw road”, then moved through Zabuchchia and Dmytrivka, and reached Zhytomyr route. And while the bridge in Stoyanka was blown up we turned to Bilohorodka that had been already controlled by the Ukrainian army. Along the way, I strictly asked the children to look only ahead, not to look around, but better to close their eyes, because what we saw was indescribably horrible. About twenty civilian cars were shot in different places. Some of them had signs with the words “CHILDREN” and white flags on them. Dead drivers and passengers remained inside the cars or were lying next to them, and no one removed their bodies. I still have this terrible road before my eyes, which our column was moving very, very slowly: we drove to Kyiv for seven hours.

I was scared when suddenly an officer approached me at the Russian checkpoint. Though he only said: “Comrade driver, close the window, don’t chill the passengers!”. No one searched anyone, no one inspected the cars. We were simply released, and in some time finally got to the Ukrainian side.

 

When they say evacuate, evacuate

To all who may find themselves in the same situation as me, I have the following advice.

First, do not provoke Russian military. They came to us to kill and destroy, so they can easily take a few more lives. It will not be a problem for them, and they will not get any punishment for it. Therefore, do not make sudden movements, become as invisible as possible to their military.

Yes, Ukrainians must defend themselves, but this must be done wisely. Could I, for example, throw a Molotov cocktail at the infantry fighting vehicle standing next to my house? Of course, I could, but what would happen to me and my family then?

Secondly, do not wait for the last minute to be evacuated, do it when you are told to. Otherwise, like us, you will have to sit in the basement for a few weeks. And this at best. The same applies to the orders to go to shelters. When they say you have to hide, go and hide.

Third, while under occupation, delete all messages from phones, and better remove the applications themselves. If occupants find any photos, one way or another related to their army, you may have big problems.

Stock up not only on food and water, but also batteries and candles, because the light usually disappears in the first days of the military actions. 

I do not regret that I went through such a terrible ordeal, because I believe that the morning always comes after the night. As a historian and political scientist by education, I can say that we could not escape this war. The creeping occupation of Russia would have led to it one way or another. And now I am convinced of our victory, which will lead to extraordinary positive changes in our state. Now Ukraine will receive a certain vaccination from contempt for its people, from government loyalty to corruption, from inattention to the urgent needs of the army.

Finally I will say that I not only do not doubt our victory, I believe that only now we have the opportunity to return Donbas and Crimea. Then there will be no such moment. After this war, Ukraine will be united, strong and successful.