“Dad and Mom Found in the Cellar”: Details of the Killing of Spouses of Farmers by Occupiers in the Kherson Region

- My parents are entrepreneurs and hard workers. There were … All their lives they grew grain, harvested crops and earned a living by this. They loved their home very much, mom planted flowers, dad had “golden hands” and helped with the housework in every possible way. My parents had many friends, they were loved and respected in the village. My sister and I loved to visit them, we had so many plans, how parents rejoiced at their grandchildren … However, the occupiers destroyed our whole life, - told daughter of the murdered spouses Alina. - First they entered Velikaya Alexandrovka, then Arkhangelsk. It was March 13th.

The Russian military caught those who had a clear pro-Ukrainian position and were connected with the war - former ATO soldiers who were members of the territorial defense. The locals left their homes in fear, and the invaders, in turn, looted. And then the horrors began - shelling, as a result of which houses burned and collapsed.

Read also: “Two thousand children, whom the invaders took from Kherson to the Crimea, disappeared without a trace,” Boris Babin

Mom and dad could leave because they had everything for this, but they were very worried about the house, because they put their whole soul and work into it. Therefore, in response to our questions about leaving, they said that they had a cellar, and they hid in it when it was hot in the village. Despite the difficult situation, the parents planted a vegetable garden and expected that finally this hell would end and there would be peace and victory. Moreover, the Ukrainian military were not far from them. Unfortunately, we didn’t wait.

“They were deprived of their lives, just like that. Never”

- Did the Russian invaders come to your parents and what happened that tragic evening?

- There were fewer and fewer people left in the village, it was unrealistic to leave, so people somehow did it across the river. There has been no electricity since April, and those who are not indifferent gave a solar panel to my family. And one day the enemy military came to them, noticing that there is a civilization. I don’t know what they wanted, probably to live there. First they ate and drank everything their parents had. Then they said that they wanted to watch TV and do laundry. To which the parents replied that conscience is needed, because people live here. And the invaders left. Somewhere in three days, either the same or not, they came around nine in the evening. Neighbors heard some conversations in the yard. Then everything calmed down.

Read also: “Tatiana was demonstratively hanged near the court for the phrase “Skadovsk is Ukraine”: terrible details of the crime of rashists in the Kherson region

On the morning of August 24, the neighbors noticed that there were no parents, because every day they went out and talked, telling how the day went. Therefore, the villagers rushed into the cellar and found the dead dad. They did not see my mother and thought that she had run away. Our 85-year-old grandmother, who lives across the street, came in and, unfortunately, came across another body in the cellar. It was mommy… The criminals covered her with a blanket. the occupiers claimed that it was not them, but the “drevtsy”.

Since the shelling took place every day, they did not have the opportunity to take the bodies to the cemetery, which before that could still be mined. So the neighbors wrapped them in a blanket and buried their parents in their yard. Unfortunately, my sister and I could not attend, because we were in other cities. Only after Arkhangelskoye was fired did she arrive, an exhumation was carried out, and now dad and mom are buried in the cemetery.

My father’s mother also did not survive the occupation, her heart stopped. My dad and mom buried her ten days before they themselves were killed. They managed to take out my mother’s parents… Now people are returning, but the village is badly damaged. Our house survived, nothing was taken out of there. Mom was wearing gold jewelry, dad had an expensive watch on his hand. Therefore, it is still not clear what the invaders came for and why they killed. My parents were not involved in the police, military or terrorist defense.

Have they received any threats?

- I don’t know, my mother didn’t tell me. She visited her mother, brought her food, and the occupiers asked to take her to them so that they would not go. That’s all. I will say more - somewhere in the period when the parents died, another family was found shot dead, who lived nearby. Also ordinary people, both worked at a local school. An examination showed that one was shot dead, and the second was killed with an example in the back of the head. The crime is being investigated by law enforcement officers, while I do not know if those involved have been identified. I still can’t believe that I lost my family in one second. I am waiting to go to their graves as soon as possible …

Earlier wrote about the death of two teenage friends on Easter night in the Nikolaev region: “Burned baskets with Easter cakes lay near the bodies.”