Before the events that befell us on February 24, nineteen-year-old Mykyta was a student at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and a tennis player. The boy met the war in the hero city of Ukraine — Bucha. He stayed there from the first to the last day of the occupation of the settlement, caught 5 rotations of the enemy troops and shared with us his experience of everything he endured during these tragic events.
Illustrative photo (Getty Images)
About the period of the occupation, living conditions under the rashist invasion
Unfortunately, I met the war right away, from the very beginning, because the first place where the rashists went was the Kyiv region. Bucha, of course, wasn’t an exception.That is, already on the third day they were here, and their first shell hit Bucha. After this shelling, unfortunately, many buildings were damaged, including my apartment complex, which was fired with anti-tank weaponry, armor-piercing and tracer ammunition. As a result of the enemy attack two apartments burned down and one person died; as it turned out later, this person was a Russian gunner.
I spent more than a month under the occupation: from February 26 to April 2-3. I was with my relatives — it helped me to survive it and endure everything. Living conditions were more or less normal because neighbors helped others with food and drinking water. Only the weather worsened the situation because many people caught a slight cold due to the frost. Although the people who moved out also left medicines behind, that is why we were able to survive the occupation period relatively bearable. When the rashists entered our residential complex, they set up their headquarters and stayed there for one month. We were not allowed to go outside then, we were as if under a lock and key. The people who stayed in the section with us, up to 6 people, lived in their apartments, we could only go out to the stairwell. People from other sections of our residential complex lived in the basement, where they were closed. They lived for three weeks without sunlight at all. On March 31, orcs* left Bucha and for 5 days there was a “grey zone” when the Ukrainian armed formations had not entered the settlement yet. Marauders who remained here woke up and we had to deal with them as well. On April 4, the first groups of the Territorial Defense and Armed Forces of Ukraine entered the city and raised the blue-yellow flag – this was excellent news for us. After that, there was a period of reconstruction, which dragged on for a long time, and Bucha is still being rebuilt while the end of the summer. I won’t assert what percentage of the city has been restored, but my residential complex, unfortunately, has been rebuilt by less than a half.
About shelling, contact with rashists and threats
My place of residence was often shelled, due to the fact that the russian military was based there, but, fortunately, the projectiles almost didn’t hit my section. Although in the last days, when the russians were going to retreat, there was one of the most serious shelling of my section, in which the enemy was located – we were sitting in the basement then. And in general, that residential complex was bombarded literally every day, but the shells either didn’t explode, or if there were hits, we were in a safe place at that moment.
Of course, we didn’t want occupiers to see us and communicate with them, but, unfortunately, we were forced to do so.They asked monotonous questions all the time: “Who are we? Why did we stay here? What are we doing here?” At the same time, each of them considered themself a hero, because they thought that they had caught a saboteur. Of course, there were also threats with profanity, which were followed by moral pressure, because they had weapons loaded with live ammunition.
There were not many people in my section, only a few families. Their commanders knew that we were in the residential complex and gave orders not to touch us. Actually, they didn’t. And that’s why we were luckier than other people who were in Bucha during the occupation. But, of course, there were many other negative points: 5 enemy rotations, 5 times they changed, and each change – about 500 people, that is, a lot of people walking and looting around us in our section. And in other sections they basically lived all the time, because they had a headquarter there. Well, in fact, the most frightening thing was that they could do something bad to us, or they could be fired upon and we might suffer as well.
About the worst case
Probably, the most frightening case was meeting and getting to know the rashists. We had a certain idea about them and were also scared, because we understood that they shot many people, interrogated them and so on. They also threatened us with this, but, fortunately, there were no such actions. So yes, it was the most difficult moment when we were told that we will be shot and we had to flee our own homes. But all worked out and after a while we realized how lucky we were then. At the same time, I cannot single out any specific day, because every day was terrible, and every minute of being with them was dangerous.
About the first actions after the occupation
During the occupation I wasn’t able to get in touch, but I knew that my relatives and friends, my fellow students at the institute and everyone who was concerned about my whereabouts, especially those who knew where I was according to the latest information, were looking for me. So the first thing I did was announce myself to as many people as possible so that no one would worry about me and everyone would know that I was fine. Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible to do it immediately, only after a few days.
It was cold and rainy then, and I knew I had to protect my property, so I tried to restore it: I sealed the windows and generally made my place of living as comfortable and warm as possible to live in those conditions. By the way, I didn’t have a vehicle anymore, because I knew that it had been broken into and dismantled: the windows and roof were broken.
Illustrative photo (Getty Images)
About what made him stay in Bucha
The fact that we stayed in Bucha was influenced by many factors. Sense of panic and fear was the first days, it seemed that it would pass, and there would be nothing like what happened later. Over time, evacuations became fewer, and there was also a fear of going one way, because there are many cases when people left in a panic and, unfortunately, died (on the way because of russian shelling – TR). And already in the last days, when the orcs entered our residential complex and gave us the opportunity to evacuate, we didn’t gather the required number of people, and it is not possible to go with one or two cars, because it can end very badly.
About the gained experience and a new outlook
After the experience gained, I understand that it is better to be more calm, not to panic and not to be afraid. Of course, the experience is not the best, but maybe I needed to go through it in order to learn something, to understand the key moments in life for myself, and, in fact, to gain, albeit bad, experience.
I also believe that these events contributed to my outlook and changed it. How exactly? First of all, I have become more versatile, I know how to act in critical and difficult situations, how to talk with the most bitter enemy, how to save my own life and the lives of my loved ones. Who do I treat differently? The people who were the first to leave the places of occupation and, perhaps, the last to return, but at the same time, by means of deception, they claim that they experienced the most terrible moments and know “better” than anyone how to act in such situations. And I noticed that the further such people were from the place of occupation, the more fiercely and critically they told us how we should act. But if we fantasize a little and simulate the situation in which these people stayed here, they would definitely not say that. Therefore, I treat dishonest people who touch on such topics that are very painful for others differently.
About the present and the future
I am currently engaged in self-development, preparing for a new academic year, exploring new frontiers, exploring new endeavors and searching for myself. And I’m also writing my own book about the worries I’ve experienced, about my feelings.I want to tell my own story that happened in as much detail as possible so that it`s accessible to everyone. And since I don’t leave contact information about myself, I don’t want to advertise the book either. I just want people to know that I’m finishing it soon and maybe someone will recognize me in this interview as the author of the book and find something in common with me in the stories presented.
The experience will certainly affect my plans for the future. Maybe I will want to change something in myself or in Ukraine as a whole, and I will try to solve all pressing problems through peaceful negotiations. And even if I have to use the language of force on any of the levels, I will do it more thoughtfully and with fewer losses.
*Orcs – Ukrainians call russians soldiers “orcs” since they rape, loot and murder civilians.
Translator: Bohdana-Nikolietta Terekhina
