People crowded into a basement in Jahidne near Chernihiv. The city was liberated on Tuesday Reuters
It remained under a merciless siege for weeks, the villages on its outskirts fell one after the other into the hands of the Russian troops, but the soldiers from Moscow could never penetrate Chernihiv.
Thus, war stubbornly struck from the sky in this city of 280,000 people, half of whom fled in the first days of hostilities. The bombings, which hit residential buildings, a movie theater, the stadium, a hotel, a library, craters and debris scattered everywhere, pounded. Chernihiv, located on the banks of the Desna River in northern Ukraine, was one of the first targets for Moscow troops invading Belarus. From here, the capital, only 144 km away, seemed within reach.
«Chernihiv and Sumy saved Ukraine from being torn apart. And so Kyiv was spared, said Oleksiy Arestovych, adviser to the president, during a visit to the city on Wednesday. With the withdrawal of the Russians, between April 5 and 6, the population came out of the emergency shelters, where they were confined without electricity, gas or running water.
The 104 people also came out of their bunker, about fifteen children who had found shelter in the underground rooms of 28yearold Maksym Bohomaz, who planned to inaugurate a new cafeteria with his partner before February 24.
“On the day of the invasion, we gathered friends in our club. In the basement there is a large bunker that was used as a warehouse by the restaurants in the area. We transformed it into a refuge and opened a help center ».
At first, Maksym, his wife and daughters aged 3 and 7 months, relatives and friends slept there, but as the days went by, homeless civilians and pregnant women were welcomed. “Two gave birth. We were able to take them to the hospital and then take them back to the shelter with the newborns ».
During the day Maksym and the other volunteers prepared food for the population and the military. Then they made their way to the risky deliveries across the city. “From one day to the next we couldn’t find any buildings that were there a few hours ago. We found them gutted or completely destroyed.
We also delivered food to the soldiers at a checkpoint every day. One morning when we arrived, the military post was gone, obliterated, only the remains of the fallen missiles ». Then he tells what happened to one of the families at the shelter. “Their house was bombed while they were inside, I don’t really know how they survived. When we went to get them, I saw the bomb crater, 5 meters deep, 10 in diameter, a huge hole ».
Dasha Brednyakova, a 29yearold girl, also tried to play her part during the siege. He worked at Pasta Basta, a restaurant in town. “Together with other locals, we prepared food for the population and the troops. People asked for help, we had provisions. And cooking together was less scary, he tells us over the phone.
“We packed up our meals and went to the distribution. The roads were scary, we never knew what to expect. One day I was outside when I saw the trajectory of a rocket with my own eyes. I witnessed the exact moment he hit a building that caught fire. It was terrible. But every day houses and cars burned, lots of smoke, rockets and planes flying overhead. Now I can’t recognize my city, the authorities say it’s 70% destroyed ».
The Belarusian border is only 40 kilometers away from there. Beyond this border, Moscow’s troops have withdrawn in recent days. “We still don’t think they’re gone,” he admits at the end of the story. “We can’t believe it, we can’t trust the fact that this really is the end of the war for our city.”