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Valentina Daniela shows the calendar the occupants of the Yahidne basement used to keep track of their confinement, on May 11, 2022. Photo: Rudaw
CHERNIHIV, Ukraine - When Russian troops arrived in the village of Yahidne, Chernihiv province in early March, they locked up 350 people in a dark and terrifying school basement with no ventilation system for a month, during which time 12 people died gradually.
The memories of the nightmare they endured still haunt the survivors, and will likely never leave them. Most of the victims died as a result of a lack of oxygen.
"There was no light here. Some people used to carry hand lights or lit candles. We were very stressed during the first two days because we had little food. We just had some cakes and biscuits. The Russian forces used to give us their spoiled leftovers," Valentina Daniela, an elderly woman in her seventies, told Rudaw's Dlnya Rahman from the basement on Wednesday, adding that many people used to sleep while standing up.
Locals were locked up in the basement from early March until the beginning of April. Russian troops allowed the captives to remove the dead bodies and bury them every now and then.
"There were no ventilations here. We were running out of oxygen. We used to barely breathe. It was very hot. There was no chance for us to sniff the fresh air. Therefore, people died among us," Daniela added.
The village of Yahidne is situated in Chernihiv Raion, around 140 kilometers northeast of Kyiv and around 15 kilometers south of Chernihiv.
Russian forces retreated from the village and the rest of other areas north of the country in early April, focusing shifts to the southern and eastern parts of Ukraine, allowing villagers to eventually come out of the basement, but they may continue to suffer as their village lies in ruins and most of their homes have been pillaged by the Russian occupiers.
Ukrainian officials have repeatedly accused Russia of killing hundreds of civilians around Kyiv. Moscow has denied the allegations.
The United Nations estimates that at least 2,899 civilians have been killed and 3,235 injured across Ukraine since the war began in February.
Cameraman: Ahmed Younus
The memories of the nightmare they endured still haunt the survivors, and will likely never leave them. Most of the victims died as a result of a lack of oxygen.
"There was no light here. Some people used to carry hand lights or lit candles. We were very stressed during the first two days because we had little food. We just had some cakes and biscuits. The Russian forces used to give us their spoiled leftovers," Valentina Daniela, an elderly woman in her seventies, told Rudaw's Dlnya Rahman from the basement on Wednesday, adding that many people used to sleep while standing up.
Locals were locked up in the basement from early March until the beginning of April. Russian troops allowed the captives to remove the dead bodies and bury them every now and then.
"There were no ventilations here. We were running out of oxygen. We used to barely breathe. It was very hot. There was no chance for us to sniff the fresh air. Therefore, people died among us," Daniela added.
The village of Yahidne is situated in Chernihiv Raion, around 140 kilometers northeast of Kyiv and around 15 kilometers south of Chernihiv.
Russian forces retreated from the village and the rest of other areas north of the country in early April, focusing shifts to the southern and eastern parts of Ukraine, allowing villagers to eventually come out of the basement, but they may continue to suffer as their village lies in ruins and most of their homes have been pillaged by the Russian occupiers.
Ukrainian officials have repeatedly accused Russia of killing hundreds of civilians around Kyiv. Moscow has denied the allegations.
The United Nations estimates that at least 2,899 civilians have been killed and 3,235 injured across Ukraine since the war began in February.
Cameraman: Ahmed Younus
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