“The invaders were pulling padlocks and tuners with them”: Steblyanka residents about how they survived under the Russian occupation
The Russian invaders took away whatever they saw from people.
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From 19th to 26th of March, the village of Steblyanka in the Sumy region was occupied by the Russian military. The occupiers invaded the houses of civilians who were not at home at the time. The residents told how they lived during that time to “Suspilne”.
Less than 80 people lived in the village prior Russian’s attack. There is a railway station nearby. The occupants have been stationed in Steblyanki for more than a week. A fortnight ago, the Ukrainian military drove Russian forces out of the village.
The local residents tried to stay out of sight the whole time. They were hiding in the cellars, in the woods, a resident of Steblyanka, Ivan, recalls.
“A lot of people left, mostly the young. We have summer residents living here - they built a house, it was nice. And there are some owners across the street, who live in Sumy and come for the summer, so they have nowhere to go because everything is smashed up. They wanted to take the horse away, to carry water or something else, some heavy stuff.
So, I said: If you take the horse, then take me too - I won't give him up. And so they didn't take it away. They took the gun, I have it legally and documented," he said.
Kateryna from Sumy, who came with her family to visit her mother-in-law. The woman says there was no electricity and water in the village for a month.
“We've been drowning in the snow. Already my husband says, what has it come - saving snow, there's a bit left, you take a bit.
According to local resident Lyubov Vasilievna, the invaders took everything they saw from houses where there were no owners.
"Even padlocks, tuners from TVs, from plates. What do they need tuners for? Remotes. They forgot their bags on the run. There's only six remotes in there. Do you understand? What do they need them for? Each TV set has a different remote control," she remembered.
Previously, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau back Joe Baiden and stated that it is "absolutely right" that more people use the word "genocide" to describe the Russian war.
“Russians military attacks on civilians, including the targeting of health-care facilities and train stations, as well as sexual violence in the conflict. These are all things that are crimes against humanity”, he said.
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