Anton Dovgopol, director of the Irpin Central City Hospital, deputy of the Irpin City Council and Honored Doctor of Ukraine, has told 24 Channel about those terrible days, which were accompanied by abductions, torture, rape, including of children, and looting. Along with other doctors he found himself under occupation, rescuing and burying people.

About the first wounded

"The first difficult process was communication. And at that time I was very pleased with the decision that we shared the functionality. And his goal was that the facility should be able to help both a pregnant woman and an ordinary resident, as well as a wounded soldier who sought help".

On the second or third day of the war, clashes between diversion intelligence groups, territorial defense and the Ukrainian Armed Forces started in the region. Therefore, doctors began to receive wounded servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Injured residents who have been injured because of explosions, fires and bullets also began to arrive.

According to the doctor, the facility was fully supplied with blood. He also had all the necessary resources to be able to provide assistance. From the fourth day, medics were faced with the fact that important infrastructure of the city was damaged. The hospital was left without electricity, water supply and water disposal.

"I am very lucky that enough reserves of diesel fuel have been accumulated, that there were diesel generators and the company, which set them under fire. We had our own generators, but we didn't understand how long this process would take".

"We are doctors, there are laws of war"

"I am grateful to the team that they all survived, that they provided help professionally and on time. Russian soldiers also applied to the facility. But they did not apply on their own, they were delivered by residents. Analyzing this situation, I think that these were collaborators who brought diversion intelligence groups of Russians who were injured and wounded as a result of hostilities with our Armed Forces".

The first three Russians who gave a press conference to UNIAN were Russians from a medical facility in Bucha, who were also evacuated by doctors through special services and then transferred to Kyiv. According to Dovgopol, assistance was also provided to Russian soldiers because the Geneva Convention was in force.

"We are doctors, there are laws of war. Despite the fact that we followed the rules of the Geneva Convention, for the Russians it had no value at all. As the result you were able to see this building, where there had been a direct hit. In Bucha they were firing from automatic rifles all over the hospital area as well".

"Are they people at all?"

About the crimes of the occupiers

They came in armed, surrounded the entire medical facility, and exposed armored vehicles. And started to look for their Russian world, arguing that "we came to save you".

"It is clear that apart from the fact that they harmed us and the horror they caused to our state, there was nothing useful from it. Based on the situation that has taken place, I have no explanation at all, who this is, who they are, what kind of people they are and if they are people at all? I personally saw those atrocities – shootings of people in the streets, shots to the head, bodies lying in the streets, lying just on the road, in the open".

According to Dovgopol, the horror also was that from the moment of occupation until March 10 doctors were not even allowed to bury people. The Russian occupiers completely forbade access to the bodies.

"From the moment they came in, I had to come to the checkpoint every day with my hands up, talk about the situation in the hospital and etc. For example, how we work, whether we provide help, what we do. I was told: "If you do not come to the mark, you endanger the whole team, the patients who are there".

However, the only thing the doctors were thinking about at the time was that they should hang on, provide help, and wait for the evacuation in order to evacuate the staff and patients unharmed. On March 7, evacuation corridors started to open, which were organized by agreement. Anton Dovgopol noted that, of course, they also took advantage of this opportunity and tried to send as many patients and medical staff as possible.

"The hospital was infrastructurally destroyed, there was no water supply or light. And we realized that 20 surgeries a day we don’t perform, like it was before, so we do not need to keep 20 surgeons for this. Therefore, as of March 10, all patients and most of the staff were evacuated from the facility. All that was left was the core which I needed to provide any medical care if needed, from childbirth to any operation".

"I also personally saw animals eating people. We did everything we could. Of course, the question where to bury people and how to do it arose. Then it was decided to do it on the territory of the church in the city of Bucha".