According to Konstantin Dombrovskis, the first Russian soldiers were aggressive, the next more relaxed.
On the first day of the Russian invasion, Thursday, February 24, Konstantin Dombrovskii, 19, was on his way to work at Hostomel Antonov Airport when he heard about the explosions. Soon he was called, “stay home.”
The Russian landing forces had apparently already arrived at the airport. There were fighting on the spot, but Ukrainian troops took over the field before the Russians managed to deliver reinforcements. Ukrainian armed forces said they shot down two Russian planes and one helicopter.
Later, fighting at the airport continued and the Russians destroyed the “Dream” of the world’s largest aircraft, the Antonov AN-225 or Mriya, among others.
Dombrovskii, who remained at home with his family, says the Russian soldiers were progressing slowly at Hostomel. Hostomel is located north of Butsha, about 30 km west of Kiev.
– They did not walk on the road, but broke the fences and moved from yard to yard.
The grandfather of Dombrovsk, who lives across the road, asked not to break the door of the house and gave the soldiers the keys.
– The soldiers didn’t touch anything, just took a bottle of Jack Daniels. They took all the tobacco and food from the neighboring house. And they went into the third house, and did eat and drink therein.
In the gardens of the houses along the street are large pits where the Russian fire stations were. There is rubbish in the yards and piles of big ammunition boxes. There is a pack of Russian food left next to the fence. On the stern lies a naked mannequin, in which the Russians, according to Dombrovskis, practiced shooting.
The men were taken for questioning
Soldiers had time to visit the house in Dombrovsk about a week after their arrival, on March 4th. He says the men were taken to a house with a lot of Russian soldiers. The men’s hands were tied and interrogated.
– The Russians were poorly organized and did not know what was going on. They rushed in and out.
Soldiers asked where the Ukrainian forces are, Dombrovskii says.
– I said we haven’t seen them since the 24th. We said the Russian column had been destroyed on a nearby bridge, but they did not know it and could not believe it.
According to Dombrovskis, the Russians claimed that Ukraine would soon be under Russian control.
– They said the president Volodymyr Zelensky is no more and that Yulia Tymoshenko now lead Ukraine and that they agree with it on the terms of peace.
The sister’s godfather was shot
Dombrovskii says that after the interrogation, the men, their families and the neighbor’s family were locked in the neighbor’s basement. The basement was guarded for an hour, and then its door was locked with an iron pipe. However, according to Dombrovskis, they got the door open and went to rescue the residents of the house next door from their own basement. Bricks had been piled up in front of the door, he says.
According to the findings in Dombrovsk, the behavior of the Russians in Hostomel varied.
– The first group threatened and was aggressive. A few days later another group came and they were more relaxed. We were allowed to stay in the yard and they didn’t seize our phones.
The family escaped to Dombrovsk on March 11th. According to locals who remained in the city, the Russians were angry after this. According to Dombrovskis, his sister’s godfather was tied up and this was shot in the head.