Two women returned to their homes, destroyed by Russian attacks, in Moshchun, near kyiv, on Wednesday. Photo: AFP
Residents of Moshchun, a Ukrainian village north of kyiv, can now return to their homes. But death continued to lurk in the area, where, before retreating, Russian troops left traces of anti-personnel mines and other explosives.
To be allowed to return to their homes, burned and bombed after the invasion by Russian forces, the inhabitants must agree in writing. the risk of being killed or injuredsigning a waiver from the Ukrainian army, guarding the entrance to the village.
“They claimed to have been partially ‘cleaned’, but we saw an explosive device in our garden. It seemed to have been deactivated but we don’t know for sure,” Olena Klymenko, whose house was destroyed, told AFP. “We still have to find our belongings,” he added.
Among the millions of Ukrainians who fled their country after the aggression began on February 24, some have returned, especially those living in the region north of kyiv, where Russian troops retreated after fierce resistance by Ukrainians .
On their return they found a scene of desolation, as in Moshchun, a small village surrounded by pine trees where less than a thousand people lived before the war.
An aerial view of Moshchun, northwest of kyiv, devastated by Russian attacks. Photo: AFP
Theft, arson and destruction
Almost all the houses were looted, the windows were shattered and the walls were strewn with shrapnel. Some, a minority, were completely burned. Washing machine cylinders and tangled wires are the only traces of appliances.
“They destroyed everything we built over the years,” said Vadym Jerdetsky, a 51-year-old baker, whose shop was still standing but was destroyed by Russian soldiers.
According to him, the pirates did not recover much, as most of the food stocks were sent to Ukrainian civilians and troops.
Before putting everything back in order, Jerdetsky must carefully examine the possible existence of unexploded ordnancebecause the official demining team did not inspect all the buildings in the village.
“I use a rope with a hook, which I throw and drag along the ground. If nothing explodes, I can go five meters. The same goes for the door, I use the hook to open it,” he details.
Shrugging, he relativizes the risk, especially after artillery deluge who fell into place during the invasion. “It’s life,” he sighs, specifying that “he still hasn’t found anything.”
mines and traps
But the danger of finding explosive devices or booby traps is real. Olena Klymenko discovered an unexploded rocket in her garden, and a long wire was stretched between her house and her neighbor’s. He said it was a trap.
Ukrainian forces guarding the village say the risk of encountering booby traps left behind by Russian troops is particularly high.
“They dug a hole under a jewel placed in the ground and put explosives. The same goes for children’s toys and the bodies of their own soldiers,” said a 39-year-old soldier, who goes on nom de guerre of “Chavlik”. .
The AFP could not verify whether the residents had fallen victim to the traps.
Houses in the village of Moshchun, Ukraine, were destroyed on Wednesday. Photo: AFP
During their flight, some of the villagers only saved their documents and the clothes they were wearing. The rest was burned by explosions and fire. Although they happily survived, they carried the trauma of witnessing the attack on their village.
To escape shelling, 62-year-old Nadia Odientsova spent several days hiding in the basements of three different houses. The first two turned to ashes.
“Arriving in kyiv, they put us in a hospital. When the air raid sirens sounded, people were scared but we were not,” he told AFP.
“After all those missiles fired over our heads, all those bombings and fires, we are no longer afraid of sirens,” he sums up.
Source: AFP
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Source: Clarin