On March 30, one day before the russian troops will withdraw from Novyi Bykiv after more than one month of occupation from this small village of 2,000 inhabitants in the northern region of Chernigov, several soldiers entered a boiler room that had until then served as a hiding place for about twenty Ukrainians. The soldiers informed them that they had orders to execute eight people and they asked for volunteers among the civilians held there to kill their compatriots. No one raised their hand, according to witnesses interviewed by Human Rights Watch, so the Russian military chose to take eight of the villagers. Two of their bodies were later found with smashed skulls about 50 meters from the boiler room. The rest disappeared.
Novyi Bykiv’s is one of the terrible stories investigated by Human Rights Watch (HRW) in Ukraine. Specifically in the regions of Kyiv Y Chernigov, which were partially occupied by Russian troops until the end of March, when the Kremlin chose to withdraw from the north of the country after being unable to take any of its major cities. They left behind untold suffering and endless atrocities. In just the 17 small towns visited by HRW, his researchers documented 22 cases of apparent summary executionsnine intentional homicidessix possible forced disappearances and seven cases of torture. A score of civilians denounced having been confined in inhuman and degrading conditions.
“The numerous atrocities committed by Russian forces in the occupied parts of northeastern Ukraine at the beginning of the war are abominable, illegal and cruel & rdquor ;, says Giorgi Gogia, deputy director of the humanitarian organization in Europe and Central Asia. “These abuses against civilians are obvious war crimes that they should be investigated promptly and independently to bring those responsible to justice & rdquor ;. His organization had already documented other violations of the laws of war in other towns such as Bucha, where more than 400 civilians were killed by Russian troops, according to the count of the Ukrainian authorities.
Executions and forced confinement
The same brutality exhibited in Bucha has been repeated in other towns occupied during the month of March. There are many examples of extrajudicial executions, such as that of Ihor Savran, who was dragged from his home by soldiers after an old military coat was found in his closet on March 19, according to HRW. Her mother later discovered her body in a barn a hundred meters from the family home after bumping into her slippers at the door. But during the occupation not only hundreds of people were put to the knife. Many others were forcibly locked up in places with hardly any water and food, in “suffocating conditions & rdquor; and “dirty spaces”.
In the village of Yahidne140 kilometers northeast of kyiv, Russian troops held 350 people locked up, including 70 children, in the basement of a school for 28 days, according to the humanitarian organization. “They were only let out even briefly. There was little air and space to lie down and people had to use buckets to relieve themselves & rdquor ;, says the organization. “After a week everyone was coughing violently & rdquor ;, said one of the survivors. “Almost all the children ended up with high fevers, coughing spasms and also vomiting & rdquor ;. Ten elderly people died during the forced confinement.
Electric shocks and beatings
The organization has also documented at least seven cases of torture during the month it spent interviewing 65 people in Ukraine, a drop in the ocean that pales in comparison to the more than 11,000 indications of war crimes under investigation by the Ukrainian authorities. beatings, electricity discharges either mock executions They appear in the menu of torments used by Kremlin soldiers to steal information from their victims. “They put a rifle to my head, loaded it and I heard three shots & rdquor ;, a survivor, who was blindfolded during the mock execution, told the organization. “I listened to how the rubble bounced on the ground and I thought they were for me & rdquor ;.
“It is becoming increasingly clear that Ukrainian civilians in the areas occupied by Russian forces had to endure terrible torments&rdquor ;, adds Gogia from HRW. “Justice may take time to arrive, but all necessary measures must be taken to ensure that those who suffered see justice done one day & rdquor ;.
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