In an interview with Mykola Kulichenko CNN He pointed to an unidentified grave on the side of a distant road in the northern Chernihiv area, where he and his two brothers were buried three and a half weeks after the start of the war. All three were shot; He was the only survivor.
In mid-March, Russian soldiers reached the house where Mykola lived with her brothers and sisters. The woman was not at home at the time. The invaders ordered the brothers to kneel in the yard so that when they searched the house, they could be joined by a convoy that had been bombed nearby.
War in Ukraine. Tortured for three days
The cities of Mykola, Yevgeny and Dimitro were laid out by Russian troops for three days. – They hit me all over my body with metal wire and put the barrel of the gun in my mouth – the person said in an interview. CNN. He was blindfolded, his hands and feet tied with tape, and five Russian soldiers led Mykola and his brothers into a deserted conspiracy in a military vehicle. Mykola said he was told to close his eyes and kneel while digging the pit.
The Russians then shot and killed his brothers. “I thought I would be next,” the 33-year-old admitted in an interview with the station. He survived because the bullet that was thrown at him got stuck in his cheek and crossed his right ear. From the moment he was shot, the man pretended to be dead. According to him, the soldiers threw his brothers and his bodies into the pit, covered them with mud and left. Mykola could not say how long he was buried alive. With his arms and legs tied, he somehow came out from under his brother’s body. “It was harder for me to breathe because Dimitro was lying on top of me, but – using my hands and knees – I pushed his body down and walked out,” he added.
Mykola was able to return home to her sister. The scars on his cheek and behind his ear are still visible.
“I’m lucky … now I have to live.” He acknowledged in an interview with CNN that the story must be heard not only in Ukraine but around the world.
War in Ukraine. War Crimes Investigation
Office of Attorneys The Chernihiv region has launched an investigation into war crimes. Investigators confirmed on CNN that the brothers were handcuffed and blindfolded. More than 11,600 war crimes have been reported in Ukraine so far, according to local officials.
The story of Mykola and his brothers can only be told after the Russians withdrew from the Chernihiv region in early April. Then the 33-year-old began searching for a grave. 21 In April, a month after their deaths, Dimitrov and Yevan were again buried in land held by Ukrainians.