A few days after the departure of Russian forces from northern Ukraine, the population, which had lived under occupation for a month, regains a semblance of serenity, but little by little we discover the extent of the destruction and exactions, as for example in Trostianets , a small town of 20,000 people in the Sumy region that has been fully occupied by Russian forces. The city was controlled for a month by a thousand Russian army soldiers who attacked civilian infrastructure directly.
With our special correspondent in Trostianets, Stephane Siohan
Trostianets is one of the first towns to fall into the hands of the Russian army. It was liberated on March 26, but the fighting by the Ukrainian army to retake the city completely destroyed the station area.
On the main avenue, Yuriy, 58, is the last resident to remain in a five-story building that burned down twice. ” The first time, he says, the Russians said it was the Ukrainians who had fired, but there was no trace of impact. But the second time, I saw how the Russians were shooting at the building with heavy machine guns and from armored vehicles, at close range, I saw it with my own eyes. »
At least 50 civilians killed
For a month, the Russian army positioned its artillery at Trostianets to bombard the surrounding towns. But according to residents, they deliberately attacked the city’s infrastructure, as 73-year-old Nadejda, a nurse at Trostianets hospital, said: “ They put their tanks in front of the hospital and they started shooting at the windows, just like that. There was nothing here, no soldiers, no weapons, we were all in the cellar. The patients, the head doctor and his family, everyone working that day sat in the basement. »
Trostianets never experienced such a degree of destruction, even during World War II. According to the city authorities, at least 50 civilians were killed during the Russian occupation, a figure which could be revised upwards as many bodies were buried hastily.
