Motyzhyn is a small village in the Kyiv region with a thousand-year history. On the territory of this settlement, there is still a castle site and a rampart. The earthen structure is an ancient defence system around ancient Kyiv.  

Residents saw russian tanks in Motyzhyn on the third day of the full-scale invasion of the russian federation. Valentyna Yakovenko teaches geography and biology at a local lyceum. The woman tells how for a month the occupiers controlled the village and part of the road towards the capital.

The first days were a shock for the teacher: hostile russian soldiers entered the settlement with the symbols of the former USSR!

She watched as the occupiers looted shops. The shelling began. But the worst news was the shooting of civilians on the roads when they tried to leave the occupation. Valentyna’s family was lucky to escape from the village in early March 2022, but some of the cars came under russian fire on the same day of their departure.

Valentyna also recalls her last meeting with the village head, Olha Sukhenko, and her family. Two weeks after the teacher left, the Sukhenko spouses and their son were taken by the occupiers.  The bodies of the head’s family were found in a mass grave on April 2, 2022, after the de-occupation of the region.