When the last Russian troops in Bucha found themselves cornered by advancing Ukrainian forces in late March, they began shooting civilians, says Serhiy Konovalov.
“My brother was killed right here on these steps,” says the 46-year-old. “He was going to the basement in the evening and stopped to light a cigarette when one soldier just shot him for the sake of it.” He believes his brother Dima’s corpse obstructed Russian soldiers trying to enter the basement and prevented the killing of three people sheltering underground without heat and electricity for a month.
Konovalov, who witnessed his brother’s shooting from the ground floor of the house, points to graves around his neighbourhood marked with makeshift wooden crosses. “No one will forgive these Russians,” he says. “Their grandchildren and great-grandchildren will also pay for these heinous crimes.”