Russian forces fire on evacuees

“A Russian armored vehicle fired at us indiscriminately and it killed my husband, the six- and 10-year-old children of my friend instantly, and we were fleeing the site of fighting.”

In the small town of Bucha, about 27 kilometers northwest of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine on Thursday (local time), Galina (56) sobbed while talking about the “hell” she had experienced.

When the Russian force invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, this year, a town of Bucha, which is on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital city of Kyiv, was the first to be ravaged by war. Galina was forced to leave her home after the shelling destroyed nearby homes, killing and injuring her neighbors. At 7 a.m. on March 4, she and her friends’ families each got into the cars and made their way west to evacuate.

A Russian armored car appeared before them after travelling less than 500 meters and it started firing bullets, intentionally directing attacks against civilian vehicles. The bullets pierced glass in the windshield and killed Galina’s husband and two children in her friend's vehicle. Her friend's husband was shot and had to have the leg amputated. Galina was also seriously injured. “Please make sure to publish my story so that the world can condemn the war crimes committed by Russia and its President (Vladimir) Putin,” she stressed with fervor. “I’ve brought up the painful memory for this very reason."

Bucha, which was occupied for 33 days from February 27, is a place with circumstances pointing to a possible genocide, as roughly 300 bodies of civilians have been found after the Russian army retreated. The Dong-A Ilbo was the first Korean media to visit the town Bucha and followed the tracks of massacre.


Youn-Jong Kim zozo@donga.com