WEBVTT - Made with VTT Creator 00:05.824 --> 00:19.841 position:50% align:middle Liudmyla Mykolaivna Soroka, teacher of Bucha lyceum No. 9. I work in this institution as a class teacher of the 9th grade, a teacher of Ukrainian language and literature. 00:19.841 --> 00:32.305 position:50% align:middle When the message was sent to the general group of the school on the morning of the 24th that it had started, I had already got up and was getting ready for work. 00:32.305 --> 00:49.048 position:50% align:middle I woke up my husband and told him that it was war. I said: “Let’s at least pack up the documents and some necessary things”. We hoped it would be over very quickly. 00:49.048 --> 01:04.221 position:50% align:middle I called my parents and brother. I was very worried about my parents because they live on the border with russia, in Novhorod-Siverskyi district. 01:04.221 --> 01:19.272 position:50% align:middle This is the first district that is closest to the border and is currently under fire. My father said that they could hear everything, they could hear the equipment, 01:19.272 --> 01:28.807 position:50% align:middle but the village seemed to be more or less [calm], nothing like that was happening. They [the russians] did not enter the village, but drove along the road, 01:28.807 --> 01:45.058 position:50% align:middle which is 5 kilometres away, the main road to Chernihiv. We went to pick up my brother. Since we have a basement in our house, we decided that it would be better for him here, 01:45.058 --> 02:01.056 position:50% align:middle because he doesn’t have a basement. So we decided that he would be safer here. On the way to him, we heard the sounds of planes. 02:01.056 --> 02:13.614 position:50% align:middle We couldn’t see them because the sky was cloudy and grey, so we couldn’t see them. But when we went up to the 7th floor to my brother’s apartment on foot, 02:13.614 --> 02:36.328 position:50% align:middle because the elevators were switched off, we saw the Hostomel airfield. There were so many helicopters there, like flies. At that moment, a plane was flying towards us. 02:36.328 --> 02:50.470 position:50% align:middle It was so low over the residential complex where my brother lived! It was coming down, maybe to avoid being shot down. It was at a level slightly higher than the 5th floor. 02:50.470 --> 03:03.986 position:50% align:middle And there are houses of different levels – a 5-storey building and a 9-storey building. When we were on the 7th floor, it felt like it was coming right at us. 03:03.986 --> 03:22.306 position:50% align:middle We were very scared. We ran into the bathroom, waited it out and, quickly grabbing our things, ran to our Central complex. We started preparing a place for ourselves in the basement. 03:22.306 --> 03:34.169 position:50% align:middle We saw our neighbour gathering his wife and taking her to the maternity hospital, because she had just gone into labour that day. 03:34.169 --> 03:51.371 position:50% align:middle We took their two older children to our basement. Our neighbour’s sister was also looking after these boys. We took them all to our place because she [the sister] was also worried. 03:51.371 --> 04:06.065 position:50% align:middle She had no family, she was a young girl, and she didn’t know how to cope with everything. So we arranged a room there, [put] mattresses, pallets, everything we could. 04:06.065 --> 04:22.161 position:50% align:middle We laid the floor, brought the blankets down. We settled in there. In the evening, other neighbours came down there, because when they went to the designated 04:22.161 --> 04:34.649 position:50% align:middle bomb shelters, they saw that there was either a limited number of places or it was very humid, and it was not very comfortable with children. 04:34.649 --> 04:49.714 position:50% align:middle So they were here. In fact, we didn’t spend a single day in our apartment while we were still in the city, until the 9th. We were in the basement all the time. 04:49.714 --> 05:09.194 position:50% align:middle They also took our colleague. Her husband is a soldier, and she and her son were very afraid. I invited her to come to our shelter, and we all cooked, had lunch and dinner there. 05:09.194 --> 05:25.382 position:50% align:middle Of course, we only went up to the apartment to change the clothes or cook something quickly whenever we could. She [the neighbour] gave birth that day. 05:25.382 --> 05:40.259 position:50% align:middle She was taken to Vorzel, and she was supposed to give birth on her own, but hearing the shelling, I understand that the doctors were afraid to wait and performed a C-section. 05:40.259 --> 05:51.300 position:50% align:middle And she needed medicines, but the pharmacies were no longer open. They asked the neighbour to stay there to keep the baby warm until... 05:51.300 --> 06:07.357 position:50% align:middle And he was actually torn between the newborn and these [older children] in those first days because he was afraid for the boys. But we looked after them, everything was fine. 06:07.357 --> 06:24.359 position:50% align:middle On the 27th, our house was the first to be damaged, and the apartment next door burned to the ground. Firefighters did not come, although they knew the apartment was on fire, 06:24.359 --> 06:41.061 position:50% align:middle we called them. Then the neighbour was afraid to bring his wife and a small child to the basement after a C-section, so he did it himself, at his own risk... 06:41.061 --> 06:59.585 position:50% align:middle It was already in early March. He picked up the children in his car, went to pick up his wife, and they went to the West to their parents. 06:59.585 --> 07:08.535 position:50% align:middle Opposite our house, the road was blocked, and there were Territorial Defence Forces. There were defensive structures there. 07:08.535 --> 07:22.729 position:50% align:middle And since the Territorial Defence Forces took over when there was a battle on Vokzalna Street, of course, a shell hit our house. It was a 2-room apartment. 07:22.729 --> 07:39.064 position:50% align:middle The shell came through from the street, from the Novus side, flew across the courtyard and hit the wall where the Antoshka shop was located. 07:39.064 --> 07:50.910 position:50% align:middle The apartment caught fire immediately. Of course, our guys rallied together, they understood that there could be saboteurs. 07:50.910 --> 08:05.436 position:50% align:middle We had met them in the yard the day before. There were people in tracksuits. The house is built in a circle, and there are passages in the yard. 08:05.436 --> 08:15.885 position:50% align:middle We went out into the fresh air because the kids were tired of sitting inside and we said that as long as there was no noise, we would go out near the basement, 08:15.885 --> 08:32.876 position:50% align:middle stand by the entrance and walk around. And at that time two men came in. They saw us, and they had these blank stares. They realised that they were actually caught in a ring. 08:32.876 --> 08:43.027 position:50% align:middle They didn’t know where to get out. They got very confused, started looking around like this, turning their heads and looking for a way out. 08:43.027 --> 08:54.801 position:50% align:middle And they also saw that the guys from the Territorial Defence Forces were following them, tracking them. When one of them saw an exit near a butcher’s shop, 08:54.801 --> 09:03.803 position:50% align:middle he quickly ran, and then the other one. And we realised that they could enter the basement, where there were many people, at any time. So the guys were on duty. 09:03.803 --> 09:18.199 position:50% align:middle They covered the door and locked it. And if someone knocked from the neighbours, or if they could come down at any time, we sent out our password in a group 09:18.199 --> 09:39.786 position:50% align:middle chat to give at least some signs. When the fire started... At first there were shots at the wall, and sand started falling on our heads. The shots were like a machine gun, 09:39.786 --> 09:57.029 position:50% align:middle so loud and very heavy. So we gathered in one big hall, where it was safer, because the room where we spent the night was closer to Novus, 09:57.029 --> 10:14.736 position:50% align:middle so we followed at least the basic rule of two walls. And the smoke began to come down into the basement. We smelled burning, and someone knocked 10:14.736 --> 10:31.156 position:50% align:middle on the door from the street and said in russian: “Whose apartment is on fire on the 2nd floor?” My boys, my brother and husband, first rushed to open the door because 10:31.156 --> 10:42.533 position:50% align:middle they realised it was my apartment on the 2nd floor. I told them not to, because we didn’t know who it was and whether it was really on fire. Because there was no smoke as such. 10:42.533 --> 10:55.924 position:50% align:middle What if it was a provocation? And there were 70 of us here, all of us, and nothing was clear. They could throw a grenade and we’d all die. What would we do, anyway? 10:55.924 --> 11:15.120 position:50% align:middle There was a fire. But how would we put it out? When this smoke came down... Thank God that our basement is connected, that is, it passes through all 3 entrances, 11:15.120 --> 11:26.747 position:50% align:middle and we could move. We took all our belongings, took the children and everything we needed and moved to the wing where there was less smoke. 11:26.747 --> 11:43.909 position:50% align:middle We stayed there until the heavy shelling stopped. As soon as everything stopped a little bit, the guys ran out and started carrying water from the pump room 11:43.909 --> 11:52.324 position:50% align:middle from our house with buckets. There was a pump room there, and they were carrying water and at least somehow extinguishing the fire. 11:52.324 --> 11:58.747 position:50% align:middle The fire had already spread to the neighbouring door. The guys stood in a chain. It was good that it was the 2nd floor. 11:58.747 --> 12:20.336 position:50% align:middle That’s how they stopped the fire from spreading to this apartment. An old lady from the 7th floor, who was on a walker and lived alone, was carried out by the guys with her belongings 12:20.336 --> 12:36.897 position:50% align:middle and her wheelchair. Because she was in the room during these heavy shelling, and no one took her away. Then we moved to a neighbouring house because it was no longer safe to live there. 12:36.897 --> 12:57.603 position:50% align:middle We moved there and organised everything until the 9th. My neighbour and I cooked for everyone. We had 15 children and about 40 adults. 12:57.603 --> 13:14.383 position:50% align:middle At first, we cooked on an electric stove. At first, the girls were peeling [vegetables], washing them... And then, when there was nothing left, the boys went outside, 13:14.383 --> 13:26.312 position:50% align:middle lit a fire and cooked for that many people. All the networks in our house were burnt out, because the next day the 2nd entrance burned down, 13:26.312 --> 13:37.565 position:50% align:middle so it was not a one-off fire. Several apartments in the 2nd entrance also burned down. We restored everything at our own expense. There was no sewerage, no electricity, 13:37.565 --> 13:49.577 position:50% align:middle no water – nothing when we arrived and organised everything. Thank God, they are guys who are good with their hands, and they did it all. 13:49.577 --> 14:07.745 position:50% align:middle One more thing: we’re grateful to our neighbour, an entrepreneur. We didn’t have our own car. And on that day, everyone who wanted to came out of the basement and left, 14:07.745 --> 14:29.060 position:50% align:middle because this neighbour gave all his cars to people. And Ruslan, who had no documents, no licence, but knew how to drive, took us out. That is, he drove a car, 14:29.060 --> 14:40.096 position:50% align:middle but without a licence. We said: “Come what may”. Expecting the “green corridor” on the 9th and knowing... Our location was in the centre, 14:40.096 --> 14:53.275 position:50% align:middle and we saw everyone gathering after hearing this information. We saw that long queue that didn’t move. In fact, until 3 p.m. everyone was standing, 14:53.275 --> 15:12.349 position:50% align:middle and when an armoured personnel carrier arrived around that time, it stood and started shooting at the building where the Territorial Defence Forces were, we were in the yard. 15:12.349 --> 15:23.162 position:50% align:middle This was probably the final point. We contacted volunteers who said that the buses were not allowed to go through and that there was actually a “green corridor”, 15:23.162 --> 15:30.702 position:50% align:middle but they did not know how safe it was to go today and whether they would let us go at all, because everything was standing still. 15:30.702 --> 15:50.691 position:50% align:middle When this happened, I said: “That’s it, we’re leaving,” because it was too dangerous to stay any longer. We realised that they could shoot us tomorrow. 15:50.691 --> 16:07.922 position:50% align:middle We started to walk... If we used to go outside only to call our parents, although there was actually no connection, only in certain places, but just to say that we were alive, 16:07.922 --> 16:27.352 position:50% align:middle then we saw that russians were starting to enter the house, the yard. And there were a lot of children and men in the basement, and we realised that it was dangerous. 16:27.352 --> 16:35.454 position:50% align:middle That was our final decision – to leave, and come what may. As they say, at our own risk. 16:35.454 --> 16:48.840 position:50% align:middle But, thank God, everything is fine. We have faith and hope that we will win and everything will be fine.