Robbing the local population, plundering the school, detention and torture. The commander sentenced. Briefly on how the Pakul village  residents survived 10 days of Russian occupation.

Who occupied Pakul?

Pakul is an ancient picturesque village in Chernihiv region, located only 10 km away from the Belarus border. Russian troops managed to occupy it nearly a month after the start of the full-scale invasion. The occupation lasted 10 days.

Armen Abgharian (in the middle). Photo: Chernihiv Time (Chas Chernihivskyi).

On the morning of March 21, 2022, servicepeople of the Russian 7th Composite Rifle Company (74th Separate Motorized Brigade) occupied Pakul. The unit was commanded by Armen Abgharyan, a war criminal . The permanent location of the unit is a town of Yurga, Kemerovo region. It was from there that they came to “liberate”, rob and torture the Ukrainian civilian population. Local residents say that the Russian “SOBR” (special rapid response unit) and other Russian Federation military formations were also stationed in the village.

They robbed and looked for “sauna with girls”

Several checkpoints were immediately set up in the village. Russian soldiers of Asian appearance, probably Tuvans or Buryats, were detailed to the checkpoint in the village center. They asked local residents where to find a “sauna with girls”. This terrified the residents of the Pakul as these soldiers posed a potential threat to the women and girls who remained in the occupation. Fortunately, no cases of rape were recorded.

The Russian soldiers were quartered in empty civilian houses, as well as in the premises of the school, forestry and fire department. After they had left the village, it was found that tools  from the school garage were missing. Cooking utensils and all food supplies  from the dining room were missing as well. New mats were taken from the school gym. Farm equipment, cars and trucks, livestock, poultry, food, household items and even underwear were stolen from local residents.

School premises in the village of Pakul. Photo: Education Human Rights House  — Chernihiv.

Inspections and torture

The Pakul residents were searched, every house was checked, phones and documents were inspected at roadblocks. On March 24, 2022, a local resident, Oleg Parasiuk, was detained when going through the checkpoint (he went to feed the dogs). First, russian soldiers interrogated him, then they took him to their headquarters located within the forestry facilities. Oleg was kept in the basement together with another man – Serhii Yakovenko from the village of Vediltsi.

Both prisoners were required to provide information about the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The men were beaten, but they did not tell anything. The next day, Armen Abgharyan, the unit commander,  went down to the basement. He unbuckled his holster, took out a pistol and shot twice at Oleg Parasyuk and three times at Serhii Yakovenko… Oleg Parasyuk’s arm and leg were wounded. Serhii Yakovenko received a shoulder, cheek, upper and lower lip  injuries, and lost five teeth. The men survived and were able to escape, as the basement door had been left unlocked.

In addition, it is known about at least three more people detained in the premises of the forestry.

Basement in the premises of the forestry in the village of Pakul. Photo: Educational House of Human Rights — Chernihiv.

On March 31, 2022, local residents saw a military convoy moving towards Chernihiv. Russian troops were leaving the village, leaving chaos and explosive ordnance behind them…

Journalists managed to identify Abgharian, so law enforcement agencies initiated criminal proceedings. It is known that Russian military personnel from this motorized brigade have been participating in the war against Ukraine since 2014. On September 14, 2023, the court in Chernihiv handed down a sentence and found a Russian serviceperson, Armen Abgharian, the commander of the 74th separate motorized brigade, guilty of ill-treatment of civilian population as well as of giving orders to violate the laws and customs of war. Abgharian was sentenced to 12 years in prison in absentia.

This publication is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in the framework of the Human Rights in Action Program implemented by Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union.

Opinions, conclusions and recommendations presented in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, the United States Government. The contents are the responsibility of the authors.

USAID is the world’s premier international development agency and a catalytic actor driving development results. USAID’s work demonstrates American generosity, and promotes a path to recipient self-reliance and resilience, and advances U.S. national security and economic prosperity. USAID has partnered with Ukraine since 1992, providing more than $9 billion in assistance. USAID’s current strategic priorities include strengthening democracy and good governance, promoting economic development and energy security, improving health care systems, and mitigating the effects of the conflict in the east. For additional information about USAID in Ukraine, please call USAID’s Development Outreach and Communications Office at: +38 (044) 521-5753. You may also visit our website: http://www.usaid.gov/ukraine or our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/USAIDUkraine.

All images in this material were created using artificial intelligence and are purely illustrative.

Atrocities of Russian troops during the occupation of a village in Chernihiv region: torture and execution of civilians, burning bodies in plain sight, and shelling civilian homes.

The spring of 2022 marked the beginning of tragedy for one village in the Chernihiv region. On that fateful morning, locals were startled by the frantic screams of a mother, echoing for kilometers. Gathering at the village’s central cross, they found the snow-covered bodies of four of their fellow villagers lying in a row. In a state of shock and deep sorrow, relatives used carts and sleds to transport the deceased, burying them in their own yards until better times…

This is the story of crimes committed by Russian soldiers in one of the villages in Chernihiv region. It is told from the testimonies of eyewitnesses, documented by representatives of the Human Rights House – Chernihiv.

Names of the deceased and their relatives have been changed.

Torture and execution of four civilian men

On February 24, 2022, villagers learned of the war’s onset from televisions and calls from loved ones. Later, they heard explosions outside the village. On February 27, Russian military vehicles rumbled through the village streets. The following day, Russian soldiers brutally killed four local men, marking the beginning of the village’s occupation, which lasted a month.

On the eve of March 1, 2022, at least four families stayed awake all night, their men not returning home. Until 7-8 in the morning, each family held onto hope, thinking they might have been delayed due to the occupation, spending the night with friends.

This hope dissipated for Petro first. Early in the morning, he went to search for his son Roman. He walked about a hundred meters from his home to the village’s central cross and saw the bodies of four men. Petro’s heart raced with dread; inside, everything churned with anticipation of impending tragedy. With great difficulty, he approached closer: among the dead was his 33-year-old son.

The tragedy reached Roman’s mother next. The woman collapsed near the cross, wiping the snow from her son’s face and screaming, “My son!!! For what???”. People heard this wild, inconsolable cry of a mother who lost her child from a kilometer away.

Katerina learned of her husband’s death, 34-year-old Stepan, next. Following her, Paulina was wounded by the news of her husband’s murder, 46-year-old Maxim. Julia came to collect her father’s body, 51-year-old Victor, with sleds, the last to know. She lived farthest from the center.

People transported the bodies of the slain to their homes and, as best they could, prepared them for burial. Thus, on the first day of spring, Stepan found his resting place in the garden, where he had planned to plow with his brand-new tractor that year. Maxim was buried beneath the window of the house he loved so much. And Roman – in the orchard, where as a child he loved to taste apples and cherries. Only Julia managed to bury her father in the cemetery: she lacked the strength to bring him home herself, but acquaintances helped her bury him in the cemetery.

Russian soldiers tortured all four unarmed villagers. Their bodies bore gunshot wounds to the genitals and legs, massive bruises, gun and stab wounds.

Murder of civilians and deaths due to lack of medication

On March 11th, the village came under shelling. Homes, streets, and most importantly, people, were affected.

“Uncle Vitya, save dad! Grandma is already dead,”

– with these words, a terrified girl ran to her neighbor.

That day, her grandmother Olena and grandfather Mykita from her father’s side were killed in the shelling. The husband had just come to bring things when a shell hit. Mykita died on the spot. Olena groaned for half an hour: her leg was torn off, so she slowly bled out and died. To alleviate her suffering in any way, the rural paramedic injected painkillers when she could reach the scene.

The son of the landlady, Mykola, also suffered a severe leg injury. But the man survived. He was taken to a neighbor who once served in the navy and knew the basics of first aid. He advised Mykola’s wife to pack the wound to stop the bleeding.

“And you know, she packed that wound. Her father was just killed, her mother-in-law died… But she gathered herself and managed to organize conditions for her husband to survive. Luckily, the paramedic had antibiotics. She injected them into the wounded man, so his condition stabilized. After the village was liberated, he was treated in Ukraine and abroad,” says a neighbor of the family who witnessed the events.

However, six villagers did not survive the occupation: they died due to a lack of specific medications and proper medical care. Among the deceased was the father of the tortured Stepan – Mykhailo. These people were also buried in their own yards.

“Open-air crematorium”

The battles for Chernihiv region lasted from February 24th to March 31st. The enemy repeatedly tried to take Chernihiv and was met with resistance. In many occupied villages, people provided coordinates of enemy equipment and locations of Russian troops. Based on this information, the Ukrainian Armed Forces struck. Consequently, the enemy suffered considerable losses.

Many villagers testify that Russian soldiers burned the bodies of their own soldiers. This happened on the territory of a destroyed grain storage.

According to locals, Russian soldiers transported the bodies with ambulances. Then they unloaded them near the demolished grain storage, poured something over them, and set them on fire. They finished off the wounded: villagers heard shots from the side of the storage.

The flames were violet-blue in color. The stench surrounded the area, making it difficult to breathe. This lasted for two days. During this nearly continuous burning, the concrete slabs on the grain storage resembled torn paper.

“In the first two days, the doors of the body trucks were still closed. Later, I saw hands hanging from the sides… The bodies at the farm burned for two days. From the window, I could see two soldiers taking the body, swinging it, and throwing it into the fire. The third one poured something from a bucket, and it burned. Breathing at that time was difficult, there was black smoke,” said a local resident.

Two years have passed. People are returning to normal life. The destroyed farm has been restored and is operating again. At the cross in the center of the village, the Ukrainian flag flies proudly, and a memorial plaque with the names of the slain villagers stands firmly. It serves as a reminder of the war crimes committed by Russian occupiers here…

The material was prepared by Natalia Naidiuk.

This publication is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in the framework of the Human Rights in Action Program implemented by Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union.

Opinions, conclusions and recommendations presented in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, the United States Government. The contents are the responsibility of the authors.

USAID is the world’s premier international development agency and a catalytic actor driving development results. USAID’s work demonstrates American generosity, and promotes a path to recipient self-reliance and resilience, and advances U.S. national security and economic prosperity. USAID has partnered with Ukraine since 1992, providing more than $9 billion in assistance. USAID’s current strategic priorities include strengthening democracy and good governance, promoting economic development and energy security, improving health care systems, and mitigating the effects of the conflict in the east. For additional information about USAID in Ukraine, please call USAID’s Development Outreach and Communications Office at: +38 (044) 521-5753. You may also visit our website: http://www.usaid.gov/ukraine or our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/USAIDUkraine.

All images in this material were created using artificial intelligence and are purely illustrative.

On February 28, 2022, the first column of Russian troops passed through the village of Levkovychi in Chernihiv region, starting an occupation that lasted just over a month. During this period, the Russians brutally killed local residents, detained and tortured them. People also died from shelling and lack of medicine. Houses in the village were damaged and looted.

On January 5, our documentarians visited Levkovychi and recorded evidence of war crimes committed in February-March 2022.

Russian soldiers shot dead four men: Oleksandr Orishko, Oleksandr Derkach, Yaroslav Varava, and Serhiy Nemchenko. Local residents heard gunfire, and later their fellow villagers found them dead. The bodies had numerous gunshot and stab wounds, as well as signs of beating. The men were tortured by Russian soldiers and then killed. The bodies of the deceased were found in the center of the village, right next to the cross. It is known that the men were preparing Molotov cocktails to stop columns of Russian troops, but they had no weapons. Their lives were cut short on the first day of the occupation.

The man who walked from Slavutych to Levkovychi was detained and taken prisoner. The Russians decided to make him a “messenger.” To make him agree, they tortured him, cutting crosses with a knife where tattoos were on his arms and legs. To prevent him from escaping, they went to his parents’ house and took his father hostage. The man was sent to Slavutych to deliver a letter to local authorities. What was written there is unknown, as there was no opportunity to see.

Witnesses who agreed to be interviewed spoke of looting by Russian soldiers. They looted uninhabited houses, and where people lived, they entered and took food, cars, livestock, and even underwear. Shops and the village council were also looted. Local farmers also suffered from abuses by Russian soldiers. Agricultural machinery on a farm in the village was destroyed and shot at. Russian army soldiers used fuel stocks prepared by the farmer for sowing and destroyed grain stocks.

Знищене зерносховище у селі Левковичі

There are many damaged houses in the village, with about 150 of them having damage. They suffered not only from shelling but also from Russian soldiers placing vehicles near houses and firing at Chernihiv. Two people died from shelling. These are Sotnyk Vitaliy and Tovkun Nina. Nina’s son, Oleg Tovkun, was injured and is still undergoing rehabilitation abroad.

The residents of Levkovychi lived in constant fear during the occupation. Civilians were threatened with death, for example, for violating the order not to look towards Russian soldiers or for refusing to accept food under the guise of humanitarian aid. They were forbidden to walk around the village or talk to each other. Living conditions in the occupation were also complicated by the lack of electricity, gas, communication, and especially medicine. In these conditions, six elderly people died in the village.

This continued until April 3, 2022, the day Levkovychi was liberated.

The preparation of this informational material was made possible thanks to the Human Rights in Action Program, implemented by the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union with the support of #USAID. The views and interpretations presented here do not necessarily reflect the views of the US Government, USAID, or #UHHRU. The authors and Educational Human Rights House – Chernihiv are solely responsible for the content of the publication.

The village of Lhiv is located in the Chernihiv region, approximately 50 km from the border with Belarus. In February-March 2022, the settlement was partially occupied. Russian troops entered Ukrainian territory from Belarus. According to local residents, about a thousand soldiers arrived in the village. They placed equipment under buildings and shelled Chernihiv. Trenches were dug throughout the village.

They immediately looted the local store and settled near the forest, in the quarry. Russian military personnel lived in civilian houses, and there were cases where homeowners, even with children, were expelled.

Local residents were detained and constantly checked. Russian soldiers did not allow men to leave the yard, only women and children. They were told that if they saw someone outside twice, they would be shot. They could stop, kneel down, interrogate, or search.

One of the local residents served in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. He was demobilized half a year before the full-scale invasion but had never fought in the East. They took him out onto the street in the middle of the night, beat him, abused him, and tried to extract information. The Russians left him tied up on the street, where he spent four days. He spent the first night even without outerwear. But later, they released him.

The entire family suffered from the rampage of Russian military personnel. Later, journalists managed to identify the commander, Ruslan Kuliyev from Magnitogorsk, who committed war crimes. Also, his subordinate Andriy Chudin, who beat the man. On November 2, the Novozavodsk district court of Chernihiv sentenced these two Russian servicemen in absentia, accused of abusing residents of the occupied village.

They fired at civilian cars. A couple from Kuvychi was driving from Kuvychi to Chernihiv in a car with white flags. The man needed hemodialysis, so the family tried to reach the hospital. Russian troops shelled their car with the BM-27 Uragan MLRS. As a result of the shelling, the car caught fire, the man died, and the woman was injured. Russian soldiers put her in an armored personnel carrier and took her to the village of Luhiv, which was already under their occupation at that time. A local veterinarian and hairdresser removed the bullet, performed bandages, and saved the wounded woman.

During the occupation, there was no electricity, gas, or water in the village. Locals cooked food in ovens, cauldrons, or on the street. There was no communication either. Houses and cars in the village were destroyed and burned.

Before leaving, Russian troops robbed houses and took everything they found valuable, even domestic animals or poultry. In the morning of April 1, 2022, they left the village.

The preparation of this informational material was made possible by the Human Rights in Action Program, implemented by the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union with the support of #USAID. The views and interpretations presented here do not necessarily reflect the views of the US Government, USAID, or #UHHRU. The authors and UHHRU are solely responsible for the content of the publication.

The Story of Resilience and Unity Among the Residents of Pryputni Village

A typical rural street. Here stands a house, enveloped by trees and viburnum.

Let’s step inside. The courtyard charms the eye with red asters, delicate roses, and dahlias. There is mint, marigolds, and hypericum. Even periwinkle greens up the flower bed. Such a garden could only be maintained by a true hostess. Ludmyla Bunkova, who witnessed the occupation of Pryputni village in Chernihiv region, comes out to greet us.

The morning of February 25, 2022, is forever etched in Ludmyla Ilarionivna’s memory. Since that day, the life of the Bunkov family took a different turn.

“The scariest part was the night when shelling began. You lie down, and shells start flying over the house. They fly so low and loud that you think they will tear the roof off,” recalls Mrs. Ludmyla.

Holding our breath, we listened with interest to this kind woman, who, despite the circumstances, documented events in the occupied village through photos and videos.

“I would hide behind the barn or stand behind the corner of the house, set up the camera, and start filming… My husband argued because he was worried that they might notice,” Ludmyla winks enthusiastically.

A gray cat, regardless of us, carefully climbed onto the bench, then onto the backpack, settled comfortably, and began to doze. The owner smiled, looking at the cat, and continued to tell us how they moved to the cellar during shelling, slept in their clothes, how neighbors began to unite and help each other by sharing grains and bread, and how a neighbor Ivan charged everyone’s gadgets from his generator.

“I will remember this path through the village all my life”

As there was a concentration of Russian equipment in the forest near Ludmyla’s house, the Bunkov family moved to another empty house located in a safer area on the farm.

Ludmyla looked at her house, which she bought shortly before the war. The sun flooded the yard, and the walls of the house suddenly turned bright green in the sunlight. It was here, in this house, that she first met the Russians when she ran home.

“I hastily took things for my grandchildren, because when they were packing, they couldn’t take everything. I’ve heard the door creaked and  then there were cautious steps… I hid. I sat on a stool, and my whole life flashed before my eyes… I sat and thought, ‘Forgive me, God, I am a sinner. I regret not seeing my grandchildren.’ At that time, the sounds of gunfire outside were loud. Someone came into the corridor and asked, ‘Is anyone home?’ I remain silent. And then it dawned on me that I needed to respond. My son is a military man; he warned me that I need to answer. So I shouted, ‘Yes! Yes! Don’t shoot!’ A soldier entered the room and asked, ‘Are you alone?’ I wanted to say something, but I couldn’t squeeze anything out. And he went again: ‘Есть кто дома? А где ваша сємья? А пустиє дома здесь єсть?’ [Is anyone here? Where is your family? Are there any vacant houses here?]”

Mrs. Ludmyla fell silent. It felt like it was hard for her to talk, but she doesn’t show her emotions; she keeps everything to herself. She recalls how, after recovering, she first cried, and when she calmed down, she saw that there were four occupiers: not tall but sturdy, resembling Buryats.

“I answered something to them, but in my head, it was swarming: ‘I need to go… I need to go… My grandchildren are waiting for me in another part of the village…'” I confidently and resolutely went out of the house, explaining on the way to the Russian military that I have no time, that I need to go, that my grandchildren are waiting for me in another part of the village… The occupiers heard me. The machine gunner ordered me to take a piece of white fabric in my hands and not to run but walk slowly along the street. I found a bedsheet, hid two phones under my hands so that the Russians wouldn’t see them (I knew: if they find gadgets, they will take them; if they see photos, then that’s the end for me!), and I went… I walked and told myself, ‘Just don’t run, just don’t run…’ So I walked from one end to the other… Over time, details are forgotten, but I will remember this path through the village all my life,” Ludmyla confesses.

Nowadays, Ludmyla Ilarionivna is striving to regain a sense of normalcy. She speaks with warmth in her voice and a smile about her grandchildren, respectfully recalls her husband who recently passed away. Her grandson Maxim came out of the house, smiled warmly.

It’s time for us to leave… Yet, bidding farewell to this incredible woman, full of strength, endurance, and love, is something we’re reluctant to do…

We’re leaving, accompanied by the slightly bitter-sweet smell of marigolds.

The material was prepared by Iryna Reshetniak and Ihor Protsyk 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 as part of the local transformation project “Ukraine and Ukrainians: Modern Chronicles of Struggle for Freedom and Democracy.”