When the russian occupiers fled, the tanks drove over the dead bodies — the mayor of Irpin

In the issue of the program «Release our relatives,» we spoke with Oleksandr Markushin, the mayor of Irpin. We spoke about the city, its occupation and deoccupation, the atrocities of the Russian occupiers, about people and about aid.

Irpin, a city in the Kyiv region, was in the Russian troops’ plan all along because it is needed to surround Kyiv from the west. On February 27, Russian troops advanced toward the city, marking the beginning of the many days of fighting. On the same day, Ukrainian troops destroyed the bridge connecting Bucha and Irpin to prevent more Russian occupiers from entering the city.

On March 3, the Kyiv Regional State Administration announced Irpin’s evacuation. More than 1,500 women and children were taken out of the city by train and another 250 were evacuated by bus.

For a month, while fighting continued, locals were evacuated in groups over a pedestrian crossing under a destroyed bridge. This was all under constant fire. After the destruction of the railway tracks, the pedestrian crossing was the only way to leave Irpin. All other areas were fired upon and controlled by the enemy.

On March 28, the Armed Forces liberated Irpin from the Russian occupiers.

Oleksandr Markushin: There is Irpin and the Irpin territorial community. 30% of Irpin was occupied. But Zabuchchya, Mykhailivka, Rubezhivka, Dibrova and Kozyntsi were 100% occupied by the Russian military. The worst was happening in those areas.

The police would provide us with information about the missing. But everyday, people would come to us and write statements about new cases. In addition, we have a service of exhumation of bodies from places where there were natural burials. For example, near private houses or high-rise buildings, or in parks. Today, in particular, we dug several graves in the park. The number of dead and missing people is increasing almost every hour.

How to write a statement about the missing

Oleksandr Markushin: You just need to come to the executive committee, record the disappearance, in any form, and then provide this statement to us. Of course, it is necessary to describe the person, place of residence, and under which circumstances they disappeared. This will help in the search. We process all these applications and pass them on to the police. At the same time, we are finding out all possible data in the army, hospitals and morgues. We make every effort to find the missing person.

• The preliminary approximate death toll in Irpin is 300 people.

We could have had a much higher death rate if we had not carried out an evacuation operation. 100 000 people lived in Irpin. So we evacuated 95% of the city’s population. That saved them. Evacuation by train lasted three days. On the third day, a plane shot at the train and it was derailed. Then the railway bridge was blown up. After that, we began to evacuate by bus through the «green corridor.» Buses were fired upon and detained. After that we took people out by foot through Romanivka. A small temporary wooden bridge was built for this purpose.

40,000 people walked across this bridge. Imagine! On this same bridge, we imported the military, equipment, humanitarian aid,and  food. We called this road the «road of life.»

What have you observed since the liberation of Irpin?

Oleksandr Markushin: Atrocities took place in the 30% of the city that was under occupation. The first thing we saw cannot be put into words, it is impossible to describe. There is enough before my eyes that is absolutely horrible. When the Russian occupiers fled, tanks drove over dead bodies. When we took those bodies away, we had to scrape them off the asphalt. After the city’s release, many women simply remained silent, unable to speak.

We realized that they were being bullied. The men were taken away to be exchanged for prisoners. Taking away civilians is a war crime. Relevant statements to the police have been written on this matter. In apartments, houses, and attics, we constantly find children’s toys which were mined, those damn orcs. That is, they wanted the child to take the toy and explode.

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Also listen to: People cannot grasp what they saw and experienced — Ruslan Horovy, about the deoccupied villages in the Kyiv region

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So far, the complete territory of Irpin has yet to be examined. We processed about 98%, but we can’t get into every yard or apartment. People are already returning. Now there are about 10-15 thousand, while before there were 4 thousand. But we urge residents not to return yet. Because it will not be 100% safe. There are a lot of demining operations going on right now. We have our own Irpin brigade, and the Ministry of Defense is helping us. Together we are working very actively on demining.

Who is helping Irpin?

Oleksandr Markushin: I turned to the volunteer movement, to other mayors, and to the regional administration. Everyone responded. We were given very powerful help. I didn’t even expect it. We wouldn’t be able to do without all these people. In a week we completely cleaned up Irpin. In 6 days we made a temporary bridge. Yesterday it was already asphalted. We already have the Irpin-Kyiv connection.

How can you prepare for a new possible offensive from Russia?

Oleksandr Markushin: And how can you prepare for this? Of course, no one expected it. Yes, Irpin kept fighting. We did not let the enemy go further. If we did not do that, the enemy would be in Kyiv.

• Our military stopped them, fought and stood their ground. They are heroes.

Now, we know we have to be on guard at all times. All the mayors of the city and towns who fought said: “Do you want peace? Then get ready for war. » Those who went through this war, understand that the Russians have historically been advancing constantly. So now we will just be ready for it. Now we are strengthening the borders, digging trenches and dugouts. If the occupiers return, we will be ready to repel them even more. Our losses will be less. This is the most important thing.

• Since the first day of the war, I led the Irpin Territorial Defense. How can I leave my city?

Our dead guys who defended Irpin are already honorary citizens. Unfortunately, posthumously. We buried them in the Alley of Heroes. The dead civilians of our city will be entered in the book of remembrance in the city’s museum. In the center of the city, we plan to make Freedom Square with a monument on which we will engrave all those who died in this terrible war.

• Our descendants need to know their heroes. It is our duty.

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Also listen to: I hope that this year we will return to Mariupol — Petro Andryushchenko

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Oleksandr Markushin: Why did we go to war? Because we are a free nation. Russians are slaves to their president. And we will never kneel before Putin. We have our own beautiful country. We have honor, dignity and freedom. There can be no «people’s republics» in Ukraine. We are one country. We have one president. Period. Those mayors who succumbed to the persuasion of the Russian authorities are traitors to Ukraine. We will deal with them after the war. For now, we have another important task — victory.

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Also listen to: Enerhodar: how the city lives under Russian occupation

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