Ukraine: Stories from the Russian occupation
A young couple celebrates their wedding in front of a bombed-out building.
An old man sweeps up the debris caused by missile strikes, bewildered by Russia’s aggression.
Investigators dig up bodies from a mass burial site in a forest.
People gather in a bunker for a writers’ festival.
These are the stories Europe correspondent Steve Cannane uncovers as he travels through northeastern Ukraine in the wake of an extraordinary military victory against Russia.
Liberated from occupation, people are sharing stories of trauma and hardship, hope and survival.
70-year-old Anatolii Garagatyi, an amateur cameraman with a YouTube channel, recounts how he spent 100 days locked up in a police cell. When he refused his Russian captors’ request to make a propaganda video, he was tortured.
“It doesn’t matter how much longer I live but I don’t want my soul to meet my parents in heaven and for them to think I’m a traitor.”
In a quiet forest outside the town of Izium, investigators dig up hundreds of bodies from a mass burial site.
“For me, it’s not debatable. It’s war crimes,” says the Defence Minister, Oleksii Reznikov. “It’s the next package for a future tribunal. We call it Nuremberg 2.”
Tetiana Pylypchuk, the director of Kharkiv’s Museum of Ukrainian Literature, has organised a literary festival in a bunker. It’s a show of defiance against an adversary who wants to obliterate their culture.
“Holding such events in a city which is under threat… is a very strong message to the enemy.”
Humiliated by its recent losses, Russia is retaliating with missile strikes at power plants and vital infrastructure. As winter approaches, many are living without gas, power and water.
But Ukrainians’ resolve to defeat their invader has only hardened.
“We have to survive. We have to fight for our land, for our family, for our houses,” says Reznikov.
“What are you talking about? We’ve already won!” says Garagatyi. “They’ve got no idea what they’re doing here. Cowards. They’re cowards.”
Foreign Correspondent – Thursday 3rd November at 8pm on ABC TV and ABC iview
Media Release – ABC
