Witness: How Russians organized carpet bombing in a village in Chernihiv region (Video)

26.02.2023

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In the Chernihiv region, there is a village called Hrabivka, which is located near the borders of Belarus and Russia. At the beginning of the war, Russian warplanes flew through it to bomb Ukrainian cities. And on the way, they dropped bombs on the heads of villagers… In this village, there is a crossroads of two streets where not a single intact house remains. When you stand at this intersection, to the left and right, in front and behind you are mountains of construction debris where wooden and brick houses stood until February 24, 2022. According to Hrabivka residents, they survived a month of air strikes.

«There’s one, there’s one, there’s two, there’s one…», – a resident of Hrabivka points to the houses that collapsed due to the bombing.

This is all that remains of the civilians’ house

«And there was a palace there», – another woman adds, referring to the collapse of a brick house that looked stronger than the wooden houses of other villagers.

«Even where it fell nearby, the houses were still destroyed. And in other houses, the debris was still coming out», – says another resident of Hrabivka.

«Were you bombed from airplanes?», – the journalist asks again.

«You mean it was flying and dropping shells every two meters? So you had a carpet bombing?», – the journalist asks again.

«Yes, yes», – the women answer in chorus.

According to the villagers, more than ten houses have been completely destroyed.

«Did he fly here once and bomb everything?», – the journalist asks again.

«Twice», – the women answer.

«It’s all gone beyond repair. In the spring, there was no road here, nothing was there, everything was smashed. Now the road has been restored a bit», – said one of the women.

«So it was coming from Belarus?», – the journalist asks.

«We don’t know where it came from. It came from there, but we don’t know where exactly. Most likely, Russia is there. It was flying from Russia. It seems like it flew over your head, and 15 minutes later my sister (from Chernihiv – Ed.) calls and says: “We’re being bombed”. They were flying over us for the first few days until they shot one down. They were flying brazenly. And then they shot down one».

«On March 5, they shot him down at 11:50 o’clock», – another woman said.

«And before that, it flew over our garden on the 4th. I’m telling you, they were flying brazenly until they shot it down», – another woman adds.

«So they saw very clearly that civilians lived here and bombed everything anyway?», – the journalist asks.

«Yes, yes. We had no soldiers, no equipment (of the Armed Forces of Ukraine – Ed.)», – the women answered.

«At first, they flew all the time to Chernihiv. Here they had a route to Chernihiv. And then, when the plane was shot down, maybe they started taking revenge on our village for shooting it down. Until the plane was shot down by our soldiers, they didn’t bother us as much. It was either our soldiers shooting or theirs. They shoot, and we shoot back. Before that, the guys were standing on a post – territorial defense. The airplane flew over their heads as if it was playing with them. It flew once, the man said, then turned around and flew away, and that’s when our guys shot it down. And then they killed that soldier of ours (who shot down the plane – Ed.). He ran into them (Russian soldiers in a Russian-occupied Ukrainian settlement – Ed.). He stayed there for a month, and it was impossible to take him away. The occupiers did not allow us to take him away. Bastards!», – the women telling the story of the destruction of their home.

As of mid-2022, about 3,500 buildings in the Chernihiv region were destroyed or damaged as a result of hostilities. 80% of them were residential, said Vyacheslav Chaus, head of the Chernihiv Regional State Administration.