Completely devastated after withdrawal: the Ukrainian city of Borodyanka lies in ruins

Completely devastated after deduction
Ukrainian city of Borodyanka lies in ruins

Unlike in Bucha, no bodies can be seen on the streets in the small town of Borodyanka, 50 kilometers northwest of Kyiv. But the extent of the destruction there is even more devastating. Every few meters there is a new sight of the devastation.

“I can’t even look at it, I’m in tears,” says Mykola Kasmyrenko. The 57-year-old drags a cart with aid packages down Borodyanka’s muddy main street. The small town 50 kilometers northwest of Kyiv was completely devastated after the Russian troops withdrew. “People no longer have a home,” says Kasmyrenko, who can hardly believe it. Some houses have completely disappeared, in others there are huge holes, clothes are hanging in the treetops.

A burned-out tank is parked on the rubble of a bombed-out house, children’s toys are scattered all over the street. Nothing is where it belongs anymore. Unlike in Bucha, 25 kilometers away, no bodies can be seen on the streets in Borodyanka. But the residents report that many neighbors have been killed. “I know of five civilians who were killed,” says 58-year-old Rafik Asimov. “But we don’t know how many are still lying in the basements of the destroyed buildings after the bombing. Nobody has tried to get them out yet.”

Unlike in Bucha, 25 kilometers away, no bodies can be seen on the streets in Borodyanka.

(Photo: REUTERS)

The extent of the destruction is even more devastating in Borodyanka than in Bucha. Every few meters there is a new sight of the devastation. The blown-off facades give an idea of ​​the life that once took place in the houses. Entire rooms have been ripped out of a nine-storey block of flats, and the furniture is now scattered on the floor. Only the wallpaper is still there: brown on the fourth floor, blue on the fifth, gold on the sixth. The sky behind can be seen through a hole in the building. Broken glass rattles and cats stray among the rubble.

Some people venture back into their homes

The lawn at the roundabout leading into town is furrowed with tank tracks. There is no cell phone reception in Borodyanka. Two people climbed onto the roof of a block of flats hoping to make a phone call. Others venture back into their homes to gather their belongings. That’s dangerous until demolition disposals have secured the houses. The bridge on the outskirts of the city is impassable, presumably it was blown up to stop the advance of Russian troops.

Valentyna Petrenko came from her village to the bridge and tells about the attacks: “When the Russians came, they took our mobile phones and looted our houses. We tried to behave normally towards them so as not to provoke them.” , says the 67-year-old. “A rocket fell in our village, my house was destroyed, everything was devastated. The Russians committed atrocities, many atrocities.”

The monument to Taras Shevchenko on the square in the center of Borodyanka is still standing, the bust of the Ukrainian national poet has remained on the pedestal despite the heavy fighting, and two bullet holes in the forehead and temple are evidence of the fighting. The verse below warns: “Love your Ukraine, love her. In cruel times and in the last difficult moments.”

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