The heroine of this story asked to remain anonymous. But her sense of humor cannot fail to amaze as well as the courage with which she trolled the occupiers in their faces. The woman had lived under occupation for two months, and the russians even occupied her summer kitchen. Despite the fierce fighting in the village, the heroine remembered the stupidity and short-sightedness of the occupiers the most. Her story is a great illustration of what the russian army is. About the stolen women’s underwear, the fight between the russians in the yard and friendly fire. The surprise of russits that an ordinary Ukrainian village could be gassed. The woman had said this specifically for the website “Monologues of the War”.

I am a pensioner, I live in a village near Chernigov. As we live near the border, the russian attack was expected for us, because their troops had been stationed there for a long time. Semenivskyi, Novgorod-Siverskyi and Horodnyanskyi districts are located near the russian and Belarusian border, where enemy troops were on training. Then from the territory of Belarus they attacked us.

When I remember everything that happened to me during the occupation, I can only say one thing – the “second army in the world”, as they call themselves, is a great shame. Dirty and disgusting. The russians stayed in our village for two months. They took our phones, gave us only two hours to leave the basement or the house, from 8 to 10 o’clock. They even lived for 2 weeks in my summer kitchen. They drove some people out of houses and settled there themselves. In our summer kitchen there is a heater and a stove, so they cooked and lived there. Of course, during this time it was impossible not to meet or talk with them. I asked them: “Why did you come to us? What are you fighting for?” They answered that they were fighting for russia. “And where do you guys see russia here? You know the story that Bryansk and half of the Kursk region were once part of the Chernihiv province. But we are not going to take these lands away from you!” I was struck by their stupidity, because they asked me: “Where is this, Bryansk and Kursk regions?” In a word, they seemed to me to be savages.

We were searched four times. First the tankers came in, then some other service and the last was the patrol, which settled in my house. They told me that they do not know why they are here. They were told that they would be patrolling streets in Donetsk, but they ended up in Chernihiv. Their phones were taken away so that they could not call home and their relatives would not know where they were. So, they took our phones and tried to call their own russia. There was also another occasion when they amazed me with their stupidity. Our village is located 15 kilometers from Chernihiv. One of the occupiers told me that they want to get to the Anthony Caves in Chernihiv and through them to get to Kyiv. That’s what I said to them: “Really, guys, you just need to get into the caves. You would immediately find yourself near Kyiv!” And laughter and sin, as it is being said. 

«Twenty-year-old boys constantly asked for something «stronger»

Our neighbor and a woman were going to evacuate the village. Since they had nowhere to park the car, they parked it in our garage. And one day, several russians dropped into our yard. One of them climbed over the fence, and the other began to knock out the gate. We let them in, and they forced us to open the garage. They began to inspect the car. First they asked to open the hood. «What do you want to find there? How many times will you search us?» I asked. «As much as we need!»

In the trunk there were two travel bags with packed things. One of the russians began rummaging through these bags and came across women’s underwear. He wanted to throw it away, but the second occupant told him: “Take it away! It would be useful.” They took women’s underpants and bras. When they left, they tapped me on the shoulder and said: “Well, sorry, mother, war!”. And I say the following : “It’s okay, it’s okay, wear it for good health!»

Then the tankers came to our yard, I also asked them what they forgot here. “We came to remove your clown. He must continue to make people laugh and when he went into politics, everything started because of him.” At this point, I already became vicious: “And yours is not a clown, yes? This is war for you too! You are being killed. And he is just sitting – your bunker rat!” My neighbor was standing next to me, when I turned around, I saw that she had turned pale. She says: “They are standing with machine guns, so I thought that they were going to shoot us here now , both you and me.”

Of course, we have those in the village who abuse alcohol. But the vast majority are quite normal people. As for the Russians, the 20-year-old boys constantly asked: 

– Do you have something stronger?

– No , tankers took everything 

– Why did you give them?

– How could you not give, if someone like you came with a machine gun and demanded?

These are such soldiers. Capable only of stealing and offending people. There is a village near us, where the basement of the school is designed only for 10-20 people. But 90 were forced there! There, 11 people died simply from suffocation. 

«Why are you fighting from under women’s skirts??»

Then they dug their APC (armored personnel carrier) under my house, and opposite the neighbors located a tank. I told them: “What kind of war is this, guys? What are you fighting from under women’s skirts? Why are you digging equipment under the houses?” And they say: “No one will shoot here.” 

Read also: Karyna Ryzhkova: “A bullet stopped short of the body, pierced a jacket and a shirt, and scorched my mom’s back”

One occupier also told me: «I live in russia in a city-type village , that’s how your town is. But we don’t have gas and there’s light on the street.» And I answered him: «Well, you have an urban-type village, and we have a simple village!» One of the occupiers told me that Putin promised them something . It is that if they defeat Ukraine, the land will be given to them for collective farms. And I used to work in a collective farm, I know what it is like. I told him one obscene anecdote about this. He laughed and said: «Tell me some more jokes, I’ll come home and tell them there.» I was afraid to say it out loud, but I thought to myself: “Are you still going to get home?” 

I alwo saw what their «army» was fed. I saw how the Russian was carrying three-liter cans in his hands. At first I thought that they had brought juice. This occupier came to us and said: «I brought you something to consume , we won’t eat it.» We didn’t eat that either, we poured it out to the chickens, even they didn’t eat it. As it turned out, it was katsap schi soup . It was bitter, sour, with vinegar and also very smelly. This is how they feed their army. 

Therefore, they took potatoes from me. They also asked why do I need so many of them? But these, at least, asked. Potatoes from other people could be taken without permission. It depended on occupiers. We had contract soldiers here who fought in Syria. They were a little older and that was the main reason for our order . But at the homes of other citizens soldiers did whatever they wanted. They rummaged under the beds on which they slept. Cows were shot on the farm. They did all kinds of bad things.

We had «convicts» on an abandoned farm. We were told about this by the soldiers who were stationed here. My husband is ex-military and once asked me: «What is this random shooting?». We went to the russians and asked «What is going on there?» One of the occupiers says: «On the farm behind the village there are Tuvinians. On your farm there are «convicts». They did not share anything between themselves and started a shootout.» They «treated» very well. This is what an army of idiots looks like.

«In 15 minutes, the occupiers got away from our village»

Many houses in our village burned down. One woman was killed by a piece of debris when she went from house to the yard. There were terrible battles in the village. Although I am an elderly woman, during this time I learned to distinguish the sounds of different types of weapons. For 20 days we were forced to live in the basement. But it is also very difficult because it is damp and cold there. Therefore, sometimes we went out into the yard and make sure that the house was not broken by any debris. Once a sniper detected us and started shooting at us. Of course, he was just intimidating, because if he wanted to, he would have killed. All this time, they ordered us not to walk around the village and not to get out of our shelters. It’s really great that before the war we made a large cellar, there were 17 of us. Neighbors who have weak cellars gathered here, in my shelter. Then one day the russits came running to us and said: “Quickly to the cellar! Now there will be an arrival!” And they hid there with us. The neighbor was afraid that they would kill us all in this cellar. Although, they told us: “You are lucky that we are here.” They were at least more or less adequate, because you could talk to them or even tell them something.

After two months of occupation, they fled from our village very rapidly. Their soldier dropped into my house and said in russian: “You know, we were attacked by the people of Luhivka.” It turned out that this is how katsap translated the name of our neighboring village Lukashivka in his own way. They ran away so in 15 minutes they got away from our village. They did a lot of damage to us. But even now they continue to shell the Chernihiv and Sumy regions from the territory of Russia. They make themselves known… 

I don’t want to believe that one day they can come back again. I suppose they also realized that their lots of equipment and people had been destroyed . Therefore, there is just little faith in the fact that they will return again. But they are so inadequate that you can expect anything from them.