“The priest took the dead in a wheelbarrow to the cemetery. To bury them!”

In the first days of the full-scale invasion, the russians occupied part of the Makariv community. The occupiers’ column stopped in the village of Kolonshchyna. According to Olha Zalivsha, they entrenched themselves in the forest next to the village. Fifty houses on the street where Olha lives were deserted in a few days. Only five families and Olha remained. At the time, she was taking care of her blind 99-year-old mother and her sickly bedridden neighbor. She also fed the neighbor's animals. One day, Olha heard a dog barking. After a burst of machine gun fire, the dog became quiet. The occupants were looting houses. They were taking everything from tools to hair curlers. This went on for over a month.

During this time, the occupiers tortured several local men to death. The bodies of the dead were taken to the cemetery in a wheelbarrow by the priest. The last days of the occupation were very difficult, Olha thought at the time: “We will not survive!” Suddenly, she heard the hum of machinery. And then she saw her native yellow and blue flag!