BUCHA: Bodies on the street

 

Galyna Tovkach (56) - Mother of 2 sons, 4 grandchildren, lived in Bucha all her life. Her husband died in the car with her when Russians opened fire at them. Her arm was shattered by a bullet.  Bucha is the place where, in the beginning of the war, lots of bodies were left lying on the street for days. Relatives were not allowed to pick them up. 

 

Taisiia Kosenok (21) - Student, born in Bucha, used to live in Kyiv, now in the Netherlands.

 

 

SCRIPT:

 

Q: Taisiia : 00 00 02 - 00 03 05 Is this Yablunska Street,

where all the bodies were?

00 03 09 - 00 05 05  They were left outside?

Q: Lady: Yes, we drove past them.

00 06 23 - 00 12-15 Other than that, we did not go outside,

 because we would be killed.

 

Q: Galyna: 00:12:19 - 00 16 17 They started shooting

where that white car is.

00 16 20 - 00 21 12  My husband yelled: Turn around.

It all went too quickly.

00 21 16 - 00 24 12  That's where we were hit.

00 24 16 - 00 30 13 In the location where we had stopped...

00 30 17 - 00 36 07 ...we were butchered.

 

00 38 - 00 49 We’re traveling from Krakow to Kyiv, (graphic, Krakow to Kyiv) accompanied by interpreter Taisiia Kosenok who has fled from Ukraine and is now studying abroad.

 

(title when she speaks: Amsterdam, 12th of March 2022)

Q: Taisiia: 00 50 08 - 00 52 00 thank you 

00 52 04 - 00 58 12  So, none of us could ever imagine

waking up to the sound of bombs...

00 58 16 - 01 02 23 ...dropping on our houses. None of us believed it was real.

 

 

01 03 - 01 12 The airspace above Ukraine is still closed off because of the war. But on the train platform in the capital refugees are starting to return.

 

Child: 01 12 22 - 01 14 24 Daddy.

 

01 19 - 01 29 On our way to Bucha,(graphic Kyiv to Bucha) the town where Taisiia was born. Also the place that made the news last March because hundreds of villagers were brutally killed by the Russians.

 

(PROJECTION 1)  

Q Talisiia: 01 31 20 - 01 36 07 Before the war, I had this image

I would be really scared...

01 36 11 - 01 40 22 ...and that I would be really panicking

when all of this would happen.

01 41 01 - 01 45 08 But in reality, when it does happen,

you just adapt to it.

 

01 46 - 01 56 When the war breaks out Taisiia lives with her mother in Kyiv, but the family also has a house in Bucha. Her mother considers fleeing there.

 

Q Taisiia: 01 55 10 - 01 59 11 What would have happened if you

and your mum were to go to Bucha?

01 59 15 - 02 02 02 Not good things, of course, obviously.

02 02 06 - 02 08 09 Because I know myself and how I react

to people that force me to do something.

02 08 13 - 02 11 00I would just raise a lot of questions...

02 11 04 - 02 15 05 ...and apparently, as we know,

Russians don't like that.

02 15 09 - 02 17 20 I would have probably been dead

the first day.

 

(PROJECTION 2)

02 20 - 02 28 In the first week of the war dozens of corpses were left on the streets in Bucha. The Russians don't allow anyone to take them away.  

 

Soundbite: key + cross

 

 

 

02 31 - 02 48 Taisiia and Galyna Tovkach have mutual friends. Galyna has been living in Bucha for 35 years. Close to the now infamous church where the Russians dug a mass grave for their victims. Galyna recalls how the town used to be. .

 

Q Galyna: 02 50 07 - 02 55 17  Bucha was a beautiful city

with lots of flowers and greenery.

02 55 21 - 02 59 22  We have many forests and small lakes.

03 00 01 - 03 05 02  Many young people live here.

The city was growing and prosperous.

 

03 06 - 03 11 On the 24th of February Galyna wakes up to the sound of explosions.  

 

Q G:03 10 22 - 03 17 09 No idea when I heard the first explosion,

but I think it was around five o'clock.

03 17 13 - 03 21 01 Even after the second explosion

we had hope.

03 21 05 - 03 26 12  After the third explosion,

we got up and turned on the telly.

03 26 16 - 03 29 06  That's when we heard the war had begun.

 

Soundbite  explosion

 

Q G:03 31 04 - 03 34 19  I thought: War, it can't be.

03 36 18 - 03 44 22  When I returned to bed,

I thought: This can't be true...

03 45 01 - 03 50 04  ...it'll just turn out to be a bad dream.

 

03 53 - 04 00 Her two sons and grandchildren flee the same morning. Galyna and her husband decide to stay

 

Q G: 04 00 04 - 04 05 04 He asked me to leave.

He was going to stay.

04 05 08 -04 09 15 But we'd been together for so long

that I did not want to leave.

04 09 19 - 04 13 07 I was worried about him.

I did not want to leave without him.

 

Soundbite: pauze

Q G:  04 16 03 - 04 21 13  Our clothes were ready. We even slept

in them to be able to leave immediately.

 

04 21 - 04 31 After a few sleepless nights they decide to leave anyway, together with their neighbors, in two different cars. Galyna is driving one of them.  

 

Q G:04 36 08 - 04 41 18 We encountered a Russian APC,

but it was cloudy...

04 41 22 - 04 45 21 ...and the APC was green,

so, we did not see it.

04 46 00 - 04 51 01 If we had seen it earlier, we might

have been able to turn around.

04 51 05 - 04 57 23 Now, we drove straight at it.

I only realised it was an APC...

04 58 02 - 05 01 07

...when it opened fire. We had no chance.

 

Soundbite: walking

 

Q G: 05 03 17 - 05 09 18 Even when our car had stopped, they

continued to shoot. They never stopped.05 09 22 - 05 14 18  The moment we stopped, I was hit.

 

Soundbite: music

 

 Q G: 05 17 16 - 05 20 12 It was the end.

05 20 16 - 05 25 06 I was hurt. I could not move my arm.

05 25 10 - 05 32 00 The car was broke, and they kept on

shooting. I knew we had to get away.

05 32 04 - 05 38 02 I gave my husband a push. I had

not realised yet that he was dead.

05 38 06 - 05 44 01 I pushed him and yelled that he

had to get out, we had to get out.

05 44 05 - 05 50 02 When I looked at him,

he drew his last breath.

05 50 06 - 05 54 03 When I checked, he'd stopped breathing.

 

Soundbite: picture car.

 

Q G: 05 57 15 - 06 03 16  I opened the door and thought:

I hope they won't kill us.

06 03 20 - 06 06 17 They could. They saw us get out.

06 06 21 - 06 12 06 The neighbours' car was quiet.

Only the husband had escaped.

 

06 12 10 - 06 16 18 His wife and two kids had died in the car.

 

06 17 - 06 24 Finally she makes it to the hospital. After 5 scary days she leaves with a convoy to a safer area.  

 

 

Q G: 06 25 16 - 06 29 00  When I left Bucha...

06 29 04 - 06 32 20 ...his body was still in the car.

06 32 24 - 06 38 00 On the twelfth, I saw on TV

that the bodies were being removed.

06 38 04 - 06 41 04  The Russians allowed it.

06 41 10 - 06 45 03  That's when I started looking for him

in the different morgues.

06 45 07 - 06 48 10 I don't remember exactly...

06 48 14 - 06 52 04 ...but I looked for his body

for two to four days.

 

06 53 - 07 04 The Russians are forced out by the Ukrainian army. And Bucha becomes a symbol of what the Russians are capable of. Foreign politicians visit the place to show their solidarity

  

Q:(Title: Ursula von der Leyen / President of the European Commission)

07 06 15 - 07 09 08  It is... The unthinkable

has happened here.

07 09 12 - 07 15 05  We have seen the cruel face

of Putin's army.

07 15 09 - 07 18 23  The whole world is mourning

with the people of Bucha.

 

Q Taisiia: 07 19 02 - 07 22 13  Bucha is now heroic, a heroic city.

07 22 17 - 07 29 14  The president gave this title to Bucha,

and I think to Mariupol, to Irpin...

07 29 18 - 07 34 07 ...to all the other cities that were affected

by Russians.

07 34 11 - 07 38 08  Basically, it's a symbol

that we are still standing.

07 38 12 - 07 41 24  How does that make you feel?

- Kind of proud.

 

07 41 - 07 58 There are more than 400 civilian casualties. The mayor of Bucha decided half a year after the tragedy recently that all bodies who aren't identified yet need to be buried. At all of these new graves somebody left some candy.

 

Q Taisiia: 08 00 12 - 08 07 03 It is tradition. When we visit someone's

grave, we sometimes have lunch...

08 07 07 - 08 12 12 ...and usually we will leave some kind

of sweets, candy, on the grave.

08 12 16 - 08 16 20  It's a tradition.

We pay respect to those people.

 

08 18 - 08 25 As we leave the graveyard, Taisiia is suddenly struck by the reality of this whole tragedy.

 

Q: Taisiia: 08 25 16 - 08 30 08  It was an epitaph that is usually written on a grave, as you can see.

08 30 12 - 08 35 19  And it was very sad, because it said...

Probably the family wrote it:

08 35 23 - 08 40 23  We are sorry that we could not

keep you alive. We are sorry...

08 41 02 - 08 44 19  We are really sorry it happened.

It is our fault.

08 44 23 - 08 47 15 It's not their fault.

08 47 19 - 08 51 23  They still feel sorry. I feel sorry for them.

08 52 02 - 08 58 14  I just want them to know it's not their fault.

They could not have done anything.

 

09 00 - 09 07 Since a few weeks Galyna is back in her house near the church. Twice a week she goes to fysiotherapy.

 

Q Galyna: 09 07 17 - 09 10 20 I try to stay afloat.

09 10 24 - 09 13 24 I am focusing on my grandchildren.

09 14 03 - 09 18 20 They are small and very active.

They are a good distraction.

09 18 24 - 09 22 03

But when I am all alone at night...

09 24 02 - 09 28 21 ...the memories invariably return.

 

Soundbite: fysio

 

09 30 21 - 09 34 15  We all hope...

09 34 19 - 09 38 08 ...the war will end soon...

09 39 18 - 09 43 18 ...and the Russians

will be held accountable...

09 43 22 - 09 47 05

...for what they have done in Ukraine.

 

Music:for tc see: edl file

-          BEYOND_THE_GALAXY_MAIN_-DELGADO.AIFF

-          FINK - SHAKESPEARE (ZAC RAE REMIX)

 

Program: EenVandaag

Network: Avro/Tros

Camera: ROel van Hees

Editing: Thijs Nusmeijer

Reporter: Simone Timmer 0031 6 22 49 52 32