In southern Ukraine, on the border between the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions, in Russian hands, the positions have not moved much for several weeks. Russian troops continue to strike the region of Mykolaiv, the last lock before Odessa, the great Ukrainian port on the Black Sea. In March, the Ukrainian army pushed them back east, liberating several villages, including Lotskyne.
With our special correspondents in Lotskyne, Anatasia Becchio and Boris Vichith
Surrounded by her dogs, Tatiana Bachko now takes care of her vegetable garden alone. Since he had retired from teaching mathematics, it was her husband who took care of it. She, also a teacher, continued to work in the school library.
But last March, Russian soldiers came to their house and took Serhii away, without further explanation. His wife looked for him for several days, without success. It was not until the Russian forces rushed out of the village that the mutilated body of this man was found, under a mound of earth.
Young people from the neighborhood looked for him and suddenly saw a hand sticking out. When we pulled him out of the ground, he was in such a pause, it’s hard to describe. He had been shot several times, he had been beaten, his fingers were mutilated.
Serhii Bachko had never hidden his pro-Ukrainian positions, which did not please some neighbors. One of them, whom Tatiana had seen having tea with the Russian soldiers, was questioned at length by the police after the withdrawal of the occupying forces, whom Serhii’s widow hopes never to see again.
The Russians came and they shattered our lives. They destroyed everything, they killed people. We hope so much not to have to relive this occupation…
Serhii Bachko was due to celebrate his 60th birthday in a few days. ” We had to bring the whole family together, says Tatiana. She finally reunited, but in the cemetery she sighs.
“They knew everything about everyone”
Now, located about twenty kilometers from the front line, Lotskyne keeps alive the trauma of the occupation.
Sitting behind a table on the ground floor of the town hall, Svitlana Fedorko has just spent the morning distributing humanitarian aid to her constituents. Almost two months have passed since the departure of the Russians, but the mayor of the village also continues to talk about it, her throat tight.
The soldiers were very numerous. They entered all the houses, they searched the cellars, they were looking for weapons. When they came to my house, they already knew who I was, they knew everything about everyone. As they left, they stole a bus, a truck with a trailer, four minibuses and six private cars.
Morning and evening, the Russian military passed by Svitlana Fedorko and gave her instructions, she says: find a wheat mill, distribute their so-called humanitarian aid – potatoes and onions stolen from a nearby farm, according to the local elected official.
But the most painful thing is that Serhii, along with another man from the village, was shot dead by the Russians.
I would like to understand why they did this to us. In our village, many nationalities coexist: we have Georgians and Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Moldavians, Ukrainians and Russians. All of this is terribly painful.
Audio: Lotskyne mayor still talks about the occupation with a lump in her throat
Lotskyne is again in mourning; the locality has just buried a young soldier who died on the Donbass front. The latter was due to celebrate his 24th birthday next month.