Russian troops held more than 150 civilians hostage in the basement of a school in the village of Yahidne in the Chernihiv region. The hostages included women and children.
This was announced by Chaus Viacheslav, head of the Chernihiv Regional State Administration.
According to him, the occupiers kept people in a small space, in unsanitary conditions. The troops did not allow the bodies of the dead to be carried outside, so people were forced to stay with corpses.
“The basement of the school. They kept over 150 people, at the same time, in this tiny space. They were let out onto the street, although not often. Some got sick and died. Here the living were next to the dead. Hunger, thirst, fear, pain, despair. A bucket for a toilet. Suffocation,” he wrote.
Chaus noted that there were women and children amongst the hostages.
“I respect their courage and endurance. This is terrible. The enemy will be held responsible for this. Fully responsible,” Chaus said.
The international human rights organization Human Rights Watch has documented a number of cases of violations of the laws of war by Russian forces against civilians in the occupied territories of Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Kyiv regions. These include multiple rapes, two executions (one involving 6 people, the other 1), and other cases of violence and threats against civilians from Feb. 27 to Mar. 14.
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