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Bombing of Borodianka

Coordinates: 50°38′38″N 29°56′02″E / 50.64389°N 29.93389°E / 50.64389; 29.93389
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This article is about the 2022 attacks. For the 1920 battle, see Battle of Borodzianka.

2022 Borodianka strikes
Part of the Kyiv offensive during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
A building in Borodianka destroyed by Russian bombing
LocationBorodianka
Date1–2 March 2022; 2 year ago
Deaths>80[1]
PerpetratorsRussian Armed Forces
Borodianka after the bombing, 2 March 2022

The town of Borodianka was bombed extensively by the Russian Armed Forces during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported the town's devastation on 7 April 2022, a week after the Bucha massacre was discovered. 41 bodies had been found under the rubble according to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.[2] In addition, as of 6 May, local police reports finding of more than 300 bodies in burials made by locals during Russian occupation.[3]

Russian attacks

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Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Borodianka, a quiet "one-street town"[4] to the north of Kyiv, had roughly 13,000 residents.[5]

As Russian forces fought in and near Kyiv, Borodianka, which is on a strategically important road,[4] was targeted by numerous Russian airstrikes.[6] The deadliest bombing was conducted in the evening of 1 March and the morning of 2 March, when Russian aviation destroyed 8 multi-storey residential buildings, killing at least 40 civilians.[7]

According to Iryna Venediktova, prosecutor general of Ukraine, and Prosecutor office of Kyiv Oblast, Russian army used air-dropped bombs FAB-250 and multiple rocket launchers Smerch and Uragan.[8][9][10] Characteristic damages caused by cluster munitions were found in the town.[8] According to Venediktova, Russian soldiers fired "at night, when the maximum number of people would be at home".[9] Most of the buildings in the town were destroyed,[11] including almost all of its main street.[12] Russian bombs struck the centers of buildings and caused them to collapse while the frames remained standing.[11][12] Oleksiy Reznikov, minister of defense, said many residents were buried alive by airstrikes and lay dying for up to a week. He further said that those who had gone to help them were shot at by Russian soldiers.[13]

Venediktova also accused the Russian soldiers of "murders, tortures, and beatings" of civilians.[5][14]

Some residents hid in caves for 38 days.[6] On 26 March 2022, Russia, repelled from Kyiv, progressively withdrew from the region to concentrate on Donbas.[15] Borodianka's mayor said that as the Russian convoy had moved through the town, Russian soldiers had fired through every open window. He estimated at least 200 dead.[16]

Only a few hundred residents remained in Borodianka by the time the Russians withdrew, with roughly 90% of residents having fled,[12] and an unknown number dead in the rubble.[6] The retreating Russian troops placed mines throughout the town.[12]

On 2 May 2022, employees of the State Emergency Service rescued a cat from the seventh floor of a destroyed building, which spent about two months there without food or water and became a symbol of the indomitability of the Ukrainian people in the fight against the Russian occupiers.[17]

Subsequent developments

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Agence France-Presse arrived in Borodianka on 5 April. The AFP did not see any bodies, but reported widespread destruction, and that some homes "simply no longer existed". The human death toll remained unclear: one resident reported that he knew of at least five civilians killed, but that others were beneath the rubble and that no one had yet attempted to extricate them.[18][15]

On 7 April, Venediktova announced that an initial 26 bodies had been discovered in the rubble of two destroyed buildings.[19] She stated that Borodianka was "the most destroyed town in the area" and that "only the civilian population was targeted; there are no military sites."[10][5] President Volodymyr Zelensky subsequently said that the death toll at Borodianka was "even worse" than at Bucha.[19][20][21]

According to Europe 1, ten days after the Russian army had left, firefighters were still working to recover bodies from the rubble in order to bury them with dignity. Their work was complicated by the risk of other buildings collapsing. More bodies were discovered daily. Local morgues were overwhelmed, and corpses had to be transported 100 kilometres or more.[6]

  • Kitchen cabinet with Vasylkiv maiolica rooster which survived destruction of a residential building
    Kitchen cabinet with Vasylkiv maiolica rooster which survived destruction of a residential building
  • Cat rescued after two months from a dilapidated building, which became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance
    Cat rescued after two months from a dilapidated building, which became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance
  • Monument to Taras Shevchenko
    Monument to Taras Shevchenko

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Civilian Body Count in Kyiv Region Surpasses 1,000, Regional Police Chief Says". Kyiv Post. 22 April 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  2. ^ Prentice, Alessandra; Zinets, Natalia (17 April 2022). "Ukrainian soldiers hold out in Mariupol, pope laments 'Easter of War'". Reuters. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  3. ^ "Людина в чорному мішку. Як ексгумують загиблих у Бородянці" (in Ukrainian). Тексти. 6 May 2022. Archived from the original on 20 October 2022.
  4. ^ a b Pérez-Peña, Richard (5 April 2022). "In the rubble of a town near Kyiv, many are missing and feared dead". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
  5. ^ a b c Senneville, Frédéric (8 April 2022). "Guerre en Ukraine. À Borodianka, une situation "plus horrible" qu'à Boutcha. Le point de la nuit" [Warre in Ukraine. In Borodianka, a situation "more horrible" than in Bucha. Nightly report.]. Ouest-France (in French). ISSN 1760-6306. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d "Ukraine : à Borodianka, la difficulté d'extraire les cadavres" [Ukraine: In Borodianka, the difficulty of extracting cadavers]. Europe 1 (in French). 9 April 2022. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  7. ^ ""He's not coming back". War crimes in Northwest areas of Kyiv Oblast" (PDF). Amnesty International. 6 May 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 December 2022.
  8. ^ a b "Russia using cluster bombs to kill Ukrainian civilians, analysis suggests". The Guardian. 21 April 2022.
  9. ^ a b "Під завалами будинків у Бородянці знайшли вже 26 загиблих". Фокус. 8 April 2022. Archived from the original on 17 April 2022.
  10. ^ a b Iryna Venediktova [@VenediktovaIV] (7 April 2022). "Borodianka is the most destroyed city in the Kyiv region. Evidence of Russian war crimes is here at every turn: cluster bombs, missiles, burned elements of the "Smerch". The whole world strives for peace and justice. Russia will be held accountable for its every deadly step. Бородянка - найзруйнованіше місто Київщини. Докази воєнних злочинів РФ тут на кожному кроці: касетні бомби, ракети, спалені елементи «Смерчу». Весь світ прагне миру і справедливості. Росія відповість за кожен свій смертоносний крок" (Tweet) (in English and Ukrainian) – via Twitter.
  11. ^ a b Karazy, Sergiy (8 April 2022). "Borodianka razed: Zelenskiy says situation 'more dreadful' than Bucha". Reuters. Retrieved 14 April 2022. Few buildings remain standing in Borodianka, the ones that do have burn marks running up their walls.
  12. ^ a b c d Sullivan, Becky (7 April 2022). "Ukrainians return to Borodyanka after Russian withdrawal and find their town in ruins". NPR. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
  13. ^ Nava, Victor I. "Civilians "buried alive" in Borodyanka, "much worse" than Bucha, Zelensky says". Washington Examiner. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  14. ^ "Під завалами будинків у Бородянці знайшли вже 26 загиблих". Focus (in Ukrainian). 8 April 2022. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
  15. ^ a b "Massacre de Boutcha : ce que l'on sait sur la découverte des corps de civils" [Bucha massacre: what we know about the discovery of civilian corpses]. Le Monde.fr (in French). 5 April 2022. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  16. ^ "Guerre en Ukraine : la ville de Borodyanka dévastée par les frappes russes" [War in Ukraine: The town of Borodianka devastated by Russian strikes]. Franceinfo (in French). 6 April 2022. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  17. ^ "Чотирилапі символи війни: пес Патрон, кішка Шафа й інші". 28 May 2022. Archived from the original on 28 May 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  18. ^ "Guerre en Ukraine: Zelensky accuse les Russes de nouveaux massacres à Borodianka" [War in Ukraine: Zelenskyy accuses the Russians of new massacres in Borodianka]. HuffPost (in French). Agence France-Presse. 5 April 2022. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  19. ^ a b Senneville, Frédéric (8 April 2022). "Ukraine : le bilan à Borodianka s'annonce 'bien plus horrible' qu'à Boutcha, affirme Zelensky" [Ukraine: The death toll in Borodianka proves 'even more horrible' than in Bucha, reports Zelenskyy]. TF1 (in French). Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  20. ^ Senneville, Frédéric (8 April 2022). "Guerre en Ukraine : Borodianka pire que le massacre de Boutcha ? L'angoisse des autorités ukrainiennes" [War in Ukraine: Borodianka worse than the Bucha massacre? The anguish of the Ukrainian authorities]. La Dépêche du Midi (in French). ISSN 2100-0573. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  21. ^ Henley, Jon (8 April 2022). "Russia laments 'tragedy' of troop deaths as Zelenskiy warns of atrocities in Borodianka". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 8 April 2022.

50°38′38″N 29°56′02″E / 50.64389°N 29.93389°E / 50.64389; 29.93389

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