Residents of a Ukrainian suburb that was the site of notorious attacks on civilians after Russia invaded are alarmed by President Trump’s warm words for Moscow.
Reporting from Bucha, Ukraine
Andrii Pobihai wore his army uniform to the funeral in Bucha, even though he’s retired. He was one of about 40 people to brave the freezing temperatures and air-raid sirens on Wednesday to say goodbye to his friend, who had died of a heart attack at the age of 48 after serving more than 10 years in the military.
Mr. Pobihai, who held a red carnation in his weathered hand, said he was disgusted by what President Trump had said only hours earlier: that this war with Russia was somehow Ukraine’s fault. He wondered what those comments portended, after a day of negotiations on ending the war that included high-level representatives from the United States and Russia, but none from the country the Russians invaded.
“I’m very, very angry,” said Mr. Pobihai, 66, who retired as a commander in the rifle company of the 11th Separate Motorized Infantry Battalion in 2019, three years before Russia launched its full-scale invasion. He had led 54 men near Mariupol, but since then, he said, the Russians have killed all those Ukrainian soldiers — the last just four days earlier.
“The best guys are dying,” Mr. Pobihai said. “How can you talk to these jackals?”
Bucha, a suburb of 37,000 about 20 miles northwest of the capital, Kyiv, has become a notorious symbol of Russian brutality. The Russians took it over within days of invading in February 2022, and in the month that followed, they killed more than 400 civilians, Ukrainian officials say, leading to global accusations of war crimes.
Images from that time ricocheted around the world: The priest left dead in a garage, his mouth open. The church choir singer and his family, their limbs cut off, their bodies burned. The woman shot dead pushing her bicycle home on Yablunska Street.
BELARUS
RUSSIA
POL.
Bucha
Kyiv
UKRAINE
DONBAS
Mariupol
MOLDOVA
Mykolaiv
Sea of
Azov
Romania
CRIMEA
Black Sea
200 mileS
We are having trouble retrieving the article content.
Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and your Times account, or for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Want all of The Times? .
Source: www.nytimes.com