On 18 March, Mykola Kulichenko and his brothers, the elder Dmytro and the younger Yevhen, were taken captive. The russian military broke into their house to search it. They found a military uniform of the Armed Forces of Ukraine belonging to one of the brothers, and their grandfather’s wartime medals. The Kulichenko brothers were taken out of the house to be tortured and executed.

Only Mykola managed to escape. The bullet went through his cheek. He survived the firing squad, managed to get out of the grave and reach his home on foot, 40 kilometres from the shooting site.

This incredible back-from-the-dead story was told by Oleksiy Sukhanov, a TV host, actor and ambassador of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation, who passed it over to the Museum of Civilian Voices.

Unfortunately for Mykola, when the russists entered the yard, they found out that one of the brothers was a former paratrooper. And the horror began.

There were two of them here, while Dmytro and I were standing here, and Yevhen was over there, this way. And immediately on our knees… Dmytro and I were taken to the gate and ordered to get on our knees with our faces turned to the gate. This way, and our hands were put behind our heads. Yevhen was put on his knees here and they began to interrogate him. They asked where he served as a military, and if he was at the front, well, in the ATO zone. Well, they immediately realized that he was a paratrooper. I was walking from that side, through the kitchen garden. I came closer here and could see it through the bars. It could be seen to me that they were walking around there... If they were a little further, I wouldn’t have seen them. I would have just come out and run into them. I saw that a “Tiger” vehicle was standing, [they were] with machine guns, and wearing helmets. I stealthily hid here, in the toilet, and could hear them driving up and then leaving. I waited it out in this toilet.

How long were you hiding in the toilet?

For about 15 minutes, maybe 20. I walked slowly, quietly and stealthily, [paying attention to] every rustling sound... I walked up to this side. I came up there and saw that some things, some clothes were scattered in the yard, and a military jacket was lying there.

I found Dmytro’s brown bag lying there. There were some documents in it, his military passport in particular. I knew this bag, as he always carried it with him. He always had it with him... Lord, I was so scared...

I started shaking; I was in a state of shock! When I came inside the house and saw that whole picture, all those things scattered there, and all the wardrobes...

Was it a complete mess?

When Iryna returned to the house, she did not find her brothers there. Their belongings were scattered around.

The brothers were handcuffed, blindfolded and put in a military armoured vehicle. As we heard, it was a “Tiger”. Iryna told us that regular, rank-and-file soldiers did not use such vehicles. Either military intelligence or special forces drove such vehicles. Well, a kind of a military elite. So the men were taken to a sawmill some 40 kilometres from the village. We visited the place and saw the evidence of torture with our own eyes, as the same headquarters where people were ill-treated was located there.

When we came here for the first time, we went around the entire territory. When I came inside here, I had a real gut feeling that it was all happening here. The reason was that I saw all those blindfolds that were put on them, as Mykola told us later. I saw that foam plastic on which they were sitting. He said they were covered with some blankets. I saw those blankets. They were all covered in blood. Here, look, everything is covered in blood.

Then I realized, “Yes, indeed.” And in this pit, I found Yevhen’s flashlight and his broken club.

That is what they tied their legs with, these bands. They took their uniforms. There was one more uniform, the Ukrainian uniform, here. I also went and checked it. It was about the size Yevhen wore. I mean the clothes they took.

Then the brothers’ hands were tied again and they were blindfolded again. They were thrown into the car trunk and taken away. I asked Mykola what they were talking about between them while they were in the car trunk. He said,

“We didn’t talk. There was only one thought in our minds – we have to survive.”

Then the night came. They were taken out of the village, taken out of the car trunk and put in a line. Execution by shooting started immediately, without asking about anything, without any warning. Mykola was pushed; he was the second. First, one of Mykola’s brothers was killed. He realized that he was falling into a pit where one of the brothers was already lying. And the third brother fell on top of Mykola.

I fell down and realized that I was alive. Alive. I realized that I had to do something for them not to notice that... He pushed me into the pit. I fell and huddled in such a way that I was not on my back, but rather rested against my elbows and knees... I could even breathe a bit, and I waited until the last moment for them to leave.

I realized that I was alive and I had to get out. With the last bit of my strength, with as much strength as I had, I pushed Dmytro out of the pit and got out.

Just imagine that he escaped death and then covered many kilometres, you know, to go around all these checkpoints, to bypass them, the russists’ checkpoints, and meet that very woman, Valentyna Petrivna, who gave him first aid and, in fact, really saved him. She took care of him for several days.