“Life is worth nothing, you can be tortured or killed in a split second”: Story of policeman who survived occupation of Bucha

Maksym Kozhushko is a police major in Bucha. He is a community police officer. With the outbreak of full-scale war, he was in the heart of fighting and lived through occupation.

The Police of Kyiv Oblast told about his experience. After graduation, Maksym worked as an operative for four years. He served in the patrol police of the city of Kyiv for about as long.

Today, thanks to a reform, he works as a community officer.

"It's similar to the patrol police, something akin to a sheriff in America. First of all, working with people, gaining the trust of the population, providing quality services, responding to statements. Work is also being done in the field of road safety - this is a big emphasis," explains the major.

Photo: Police of Kyiv Oblast War found Maskym in the 1st police station of Bucha on 24 February. He recalls that the siren went off in the evening.

Everyone was gathered up by 21:00. But still, no one suspected anything until 4:00.

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Maksym remembers that when the information about the Russian invasion reached them, he personally did not believe it much.

At the same time, he adds that the anticipation was not very pleasant. "And at 4:00 in the morning, when we heard all these explosions, which were confused with fireworks, we realised that everything had begun," the policeman emphasised. He says that in the first days he served with his colleagues in the regional department, where he also slept on tables or on the floor.

Sometimes they went to shoot down helicopters and guarded administrative buildings. Maksym could not return home. By 25 February no one could get to Hostomel [a city neighbouring Bucha - ed.].

"My house was occupied. Bucha was already on the verge, so I spent the night in the district department. Fortunately, I did not return home then.

Everyone who tried to was shot on the border of Bucha and Hostomel," he says. Maksym had to live in a hospital even before the complete occupation of Bucha. They realised that the Russians occupied the city when they noticed that the flag of Ukraine was removed.

They stationed themselves in the hospital basement. They also transferred a lot of food to the building. While they could, they brought wounded there - then the Russians began to shoot the ambulances.

Maksym says that the place was not the safest, but it was a permanent shelter. The Russians bombarded the hospital with their artillery. In addition, living under occupation was dangerous, so the police uniform was temporarily hidden.

"You had to act and think rationally, to help everyone without superfluous heroism - both the civilians and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. We hid the weapons and documents in a room. After a while, the Russians came, but they did not understand who we were.

We distributed humanitarian aid," says the major. The policeman thinks that the Russians may have come to see their own, who were also treated there. Then they came again searching for them, but found nothing.

After the second time, they decided to use the evacuation corridor. Local Ukrainian police continued to help: processed documents, took in the wounded. When it was necessary, carried the dead.

They also transmitted information to the Armed Forces and helped Ukraine. After all, there was no other way out. "Occupation is like an operating table.

You don't know if you'll wake up or not. Your life is worthless, there are no rights, you can be killed or tortured in a split second. Just because you were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Many people were shot. Somewhere a car was simply driving, somewhere a Russian sniper or just a Russian went bonkers and shot at everyone," says Kozhushko. Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine.

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