UncategorizedНовини
Love always wins because it is impossible to overcome. But nothing breaks people’s lives like war. Because war is the most terrible crime that requires condemnation and punishment.
In the village of Priputni, the invaders entered on February 25, 2022. Here, the Russians shot and tortured seven local residents. In addition – looting, mockery, destroyed, burned, and looted houses.
Grandfather Hrytsko and grandmother Valya, local residents, witnessed numerous crimes of Russian inhumanity. We are in a partially rebuilt residence of the elderly couple. Here is their story.
Hidin g in the cellar
On February 25 at 11:00, a column of tanks, armored personnel carriers, and other enemy equipment passed through the village. At first, the old man did not understand what was happening because the military, like sparrows, sat on armored vehicles, even waving their hands. When grandfather and grandmother realized that these were occupiers, they hid in the cellar. Columns continued to move one after another, two or three a day, and Valya, sitting in the cellar, began to count the number of vehicles by sound. One hundred fifty-seven… The next one – one hundred forty-seven… Another ninety-six… There was a very small one – thirty-eight.
At first, the Russians didn’t touch anyone, but when the Ukrainian Armed Forces pushed them back, beaten and angry, they began to vent their anger on local residents. They broke into houses, killed dogs and cattle, robbed houses, destroyed and burned.
From February 25, every day rockets, helicopters flew over the house, explosions echoed around. And every time Valya, to hide in the cellar, dragged her semi-paralyzed husband. It was very scary, but despite this, they didn’t want to leave their home until the end.
On the night of March 21-22, 2022, occupiers entered their yard. When no one opened the door for them, they broke the lock, burst into the house, and started shooting. They wounded a dog, leaving piles of casings, puddles of blood, chaos, and terrified people to death.
The next day, the chief transported Valya and Hryts to the center of the village, where it was a bit safer. It turned out that he practically saved their lives because the next day a plane landed on their yard and damaged the house’s foundation. The neighboring house burned down, and the fire spread to their barn. But the villagers who were nearby managed to extinguish the fire.
They cried and hugged
In general, people, despite terrible circumstances and constant threats to life, took care of and helped each other. With tears in her eyes, Valya remembers the day when she persuaded her grandfather to let her go to church. The old man, with a heavy heart, let her go, but begged her to ride her bike through the gardens.
At that very moment, when Valya was in the church, a tank with a machine gun on the roof drove up to their yard. The old man quietly looked out from behind the curtain and saw the barrel of the machine gun aimed at his window. At that moment, he had only one thought – happiness that his Valyusha was not at home because her heart would not have withstood this horror.
Two invaders jumped off the armor and headed towards the house, and thank God, they passed by. Out of fear, the grandfather hid in the corner of the far room. Later, he heard the sound of the departing armored vehicle. When Valya returned from church, she saw a deep track from heavy equipment near the fence. With a horrifying thought that they had executed her husband, she rushed to the house, began to knock on the door and shout.
Realizing that the door was locked from the inside and not hearing an answer, she was seized by a new horror, that her beloved Hryts had completely paralyzed and died. And when he opened the door, they cried and hugged each other.
Listening to the story of this loving couple, one thought comes to mind: no matter how Russian occupiers try to intimidate, torture, and kill our people, they will never achieve victory over our dignity, our love for our land, freedom, and each other!
The material was prepared by Serhiy Ivushkin and Tetiana Vasilyeva as part of the educational course “Truth through Stories.”
The project is implemented by the Educational House of Human Rights in Chernihiv with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic within the framework of the local transformation project “Ukraine and Ukrainians: Modern Chronicles of Struggle for Freedom and Democracy.”
