Russians kill 32 fellow villagers: memories of Kamianka residents about occupation

The village of Kamianka, Kharkiv Oblast, was in Russian occupation from April to September 2022. According to local residents, during that time, the Russians conducted large-scaled murders of people, shot dogs and destroyed all livestock. But local residents are returning home despite the devastation, the difficult humanitarian situation and other problems; some of them after being forcibly evicted by the Russians.

Residents of Kamianka told the press about the events that happened during the occupation for the Ukrainian Witness project [a media initiative founded to inform foreigners about the war started by Russia - ed.].

The Russians left behind ruins and countless mines in the village. Bomb disposal experts have not yet cleared the village of the explosives. Locals started coming to Kamianka in the spring of 2023.

So far, about 40 of the 1,200 residents have returned. Many of those returning have nowhere to live.

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The locals remember the losses that the occupiers inflicted on them during the occupation.

"The Russians killed 32 residents of Kamianka during the occupation.

One was shot and run over with a tank; explosives were thrown at two brothers who were hiding in a cellar," a local resident said. Mykola, another resident of Kamianka, said that he lived under occupation until 30 March. "Then the Russians forcibly took us all to Izium, Kharkiv Oblast.

No one explained why," the man said. According to him, he walked 18 km to Kamianka to get some potatoes. His scooter, bicycle, and motorcycle were stolen from him, so he had to walk back to Izium with buckets in both hands.

Oleksandr

Mykola's two barns, a garage, and part of an old house burned down... The fire was caused by an aerial bomb dropped by the occupiers. A local resident named Oleksandr said that he was sitting in the cellar when the Russians came.

His dog was shot right in the kitchen because he was trying to keep the invaders out. When it became clear that he had to flee, the man left with his family for Sloviansk, Donetsk Oblast.

Later, they had to move repeatedly again. On their way, they picked up a wounded soldier and took him to the hospital.

They say he returned to his position on the front line. "In addition to the mutilated and broken houses, the Russians left behind armatures and boxes of ammunition. Residents of Kamianka use all this for repair and reconstruction," the Ukrainian Witness notes.

They add that the occupiers ate all the livestock in the village: only one cow out of several hundred survived. Russians killed dogs en masse. The dogs that managed to escape during the occupation are returning to their homes now.

Volunteers help the locals adapt to life in the village.

Background: In one of the villages of Izium District, Kharkiv Oblast, a man hid two Ukrainian flags so that the Russian occupiers would not find them.

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