“Just Don’t Shoot My Son”: The Occupation of Yahidne Village, Chernihiv Region — Testimony from the Basement (March 3—30, 2022)

(record and publication by K. Lytvyn)

Abstract

The purpose is to add to the source database eyewitness accounts of Russian war crimes in Ukraine regarding the occupation and mass abuse of the inhabitants of the village Yahidne of Chernihiv District and people who left Chernihiv in search of salvation from the war, in particular. After evacuating to Yahidne, the respondent, together with her three-year-old son, got into the school basement, where the occupiers kept 360 people at the same time for 27 days.

The main research method was interviewing the respondents using a pre-developed questionnaire, which made it possible to record not only the survival strategies of people during the occupation of the village but also the crimes committed by the Russian soldiers against the civilian population.

The scientifi c novelty lies in the introduction of oral history stories about the conditions of the occupation of the Yahidne village, people sharing a closed basement room, violation of people’s rights regarding basic needs of sleep, food, fresh air, hygiene, and timely burial after death into scientific handling.

Conclusions. The recorded evidence is an important part of the source base of the modern history of Ukraine, which covers the peculiarities of livelihood and everyday life of the civilian population of Chernihiv and the Chernihiv region. The collected materials can serve as an additional evidence base regarding the scale of crimes committed by the occupiers and be used during future trials of Russian war crimes.