What are the Ukrainian soldiers experiencing in the liberated areas? Some of them share their impressions on social media. The Internet is full of images that could hardly be more different. While some shed tears of joy, others testify to the crimes committed by the occupiers.
There is hope and relief in the liberated areas of Ukraine. At least if you believe the countless photos and videos that have appeared on social networks in recent weeks. They are similar: Ukrainian soldiers can be seen tearing down the Russian tricolor in the respective liberated place, stepping on it and replacing it with the Ukrainian flag.
Videos showing how the Ukrainian soldiers are received in the recaptured places are also similar. They are touching images that emerge after months of occupation. Pictures that show how the mostly older people from their partly destroyed houses initially unsafe when walking on the street – to greet their liberators there. Some give the soldiers flowers, others just hug them and cry. The joy of the residents and the pride of the liberators are hard to miss in these videos.
For weeks, Ukrainian soldiers have been advancing in the east and south of the country, and new places are being recaptured almost every day. There, however, not only the relieved inhabitants await them, but also evidence of the horror that the occupiers left behind in some places. While one could still hope after the Butscha massacre that it would remain an isolated case, it has been clear since the Russians withdrew from the Kharkiv region at the latest: Putin not only allows his army to torture and murder soldiers, but also civilians. Numerous torture chambers and mass graves left behind by the Russians are proof of this.
Box containing supposed gold teeth discovered in torture cellar
During the shock after the Discovery of more than 400 bodies in Izyum The police officers in the village of Pisky-Radkiwski in eastern Kharkiv Oblast, which was liberated a few days ago, are now making another irritating discovery. In a torture cellar, the investigators come across a box full of supposed gold teeth. The local residents heard screams and have now drawn the authorities’ attention to the torture site, said Serhiy Bolviniv, head of the investigative department of the national police in the Kharkiv region. According to him, the police should also have evidence that people were buried alive there.
In a nod to the boxes full of gold teeth found in the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II, which were pulled from prisoners before they were murdered, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry dubbed the find a “mini-Auschwitz”. A problematic Holocaust analogy – and apparently also false information: According to a report in the “Bild” newspaper, the teeth found in Pisky-Radkiwski did not come from the dead, but from patients at a local dentist. The medic told reporters the Russians stole the stainless steel crowns from his practice, initially believing them to be real gold. Presumably they wanted to scare the population.
Russia “delivers” more weapons than partner countries
In their hasty retreat, the Russians are not only leaving behind evidence of their war crimes, but also masses of weapons and ammunition – to the advantage of Ukraine. These days there are endless photos and videos showing Ukrainian soldiers in front of their trophies on social media. A Twitter account set up specifically for these recordings “Ukraine Weapons Tracker” is updated almost every hour.
On the Internet, Ukrainians are now mocking him “Russian Lend Lease” alluding to the lend-lease law passed in the US during World War II to supply US war equipment to the Allies. At the latest after the successful offensive in the Kharkiv region, Russia actually became the largest “arms supplier” for Kyiv. After a Research of the Ukrainian “Forbes” By the end of September, Ukraine received almost 400 tanks, 700 armored vehicles and 170 artillery systems as trophies – not a single partner country delivered more, according to the report.
Dead comrades left behind and mined
Photos of the famous Ukrainian photographer Evgeniy Maloletka, who in March through his harrowing reports from the besieged Mariupol became world famous. Now Maloletka is traveling with his camera in the liberated east of the country. His moving images show the destruction caused by the occupiers and the traumatized population: children play with rocket parts while adults dismantle a destroyed wooden school to have enough firewood for the winter.
Several mined corpses of Russian soldiers lie on a street near Lyman.
(Photo: AP)
A series of images also shows a road near Lyman, which was recently recaptured by the Ukrainian army. The road is lined with the corpses of Russian soldiers – instead of taking their dead with them, the Russians mined the bodies of their comrades. Many users ironically comment on the photos with the saying “We will not leave ours behind”. The slogan is actually used by Russian propaganda to justify the invasion of Ukraine and the annexation of Russian-speaking territories. In view of the current pictures, the saying gets a new meaning.