The locals had to hide from the invaders for days without electricity, water and in constant fear of their house being the next to burn down. Women who managed to evacuate from Irpin told they went through in order to leave the city and whether they’re planning to return home in an exclusive material by Anastasiia Ishchenko for Channel 24.

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I was alone in the yard, yelling and screaming to the sky about how I hate them, though feeling helpless.

Julia Veselovskaya left Irpin on the first day of the invasion, while the explosions in Gostomel were happening. She spent 9 days 15 kilometers away from Borodyanka, near the village of Maidanivka, where intense fighting took place. Because of that Julia had to live without electricity, heating and communication means for almost a week.

It was very scary because we didn’t know what to expect. On March 5th, after receiving information that the Muscovites would break through, we have left the city. The next day, Maidanivka was shot at, and tanks came at summer houses. They say that many houses were put on fire, the lady recalls.

For Julia, the war began similarly to many other Ukrainians - on February 24, at dawn. The lady woke up in her rented apartment in Kyiv at 5:40 with a strange feeling of anxiety, and a minute later received the first message from a friend in Lviv that the war had begun. At the same time, dull and distant sounds were heard, resembling explosions from firecrackers.

However, from the balcony the city seemed surprisingly calm. And the lady did not panic, believing that the worst would not happen as she was going to sleep in the morning. But a flurry of alarming calls from relatives and acquaintances have started.

I'm from Kyiv, I live close to strategic facilities - a railway depot and a bunch of military dormitories. My district could be the number one target. I was thinking about evacuation the day before, on February 16. I packed up my emergency backpack and thought of going to Lviv. I even called my friend in Lviv on February 14 and said that I would probably come soon. But then the situation somehow improved, on the 16th no one attacked and I exhaled because I thought the whole thing was over. On the day of the Russian invasion, I was not going anywhere, determined to stay in Kyiv, but friends said that the tanks were coming from the north and it was better to wait somewhere outside the big city. I first went to a friend in Irpin. And around noon we had to go to the summer house outside the city.

This was the worst moment as she was standing by the car with friends running to pick up their belongings from the house, until the moment powerful explosions began. Most likely, those were explosions in Gostomel, Julia says.

Five jet fighters flew over my head. They flew so low that I was paralyzed with fear. I was alone in the yard, yelling and screaming to the sky about how I hate them, though feeling helpless. We were leaving the summer house under the explosions. My friend, who was behind the wheel, had a panic attack. I don't even know how we made it.

My friend’s summer house was 15 kilometers away from Borodyanka in a country cooperatives between the villages of Maidanivka and Ozershchyna. They had a wooden house, without a cellar, in the woods. At first everything was quiet, but on the third day they’ve heard explosions. Then we realized that it was a barrage fired by our guys. As we later learned, there were fierce battles in Zahalets, Borodyanka, and Vabli. It did not stop neither during the day nor at night, and people ended up surrounded by a ring of explosions.

Then the electricity went down. And with it all the benefits of civilization went away, too. Pumps weren’t pumping water, internet and heating didn’t work without electricity. Then the gas station or an oil storage facility was blown up somewhere and the sky went red.

She added that they’ve had supplies, but they knew that if they were taken hostage by the Russians, then they would take everything away. They even thought about arranging hiding places. The worst thing was to be offline: you don't know what's going on and where, and you still can't talk to your family.

Another downside was that the panic mongers in the group, which was psychologically tough. And it all came together like some sort of a scary Korean movie. Later, locals began to attend meetings, exchange information and it became a little easier. Most people retained their fighting spirit.

“I have never wanted to be at home in Ukraine that much”

Enemy jet fighters were constantly flying. Very, very low. They flew specifically over the houses and in pairs so that our guys could shoot them down. They flew very low, so you could see every little detail on them. One night in the morning a heavy helicopter flew over our house very low. So low that the house was shaking. We thought it was the end. The locals then said that it was enemy paratroopers and we should not wander around the village.

Thank God, we have personally never seen those cursed occupiers. I know that after our departure Maradanivka was shelled by "Grad" and rashists with tanks entered the summer houses. God had mercy on us so that we didn’t meet the Russian animals”, Julia emphasized.

On March 5th, they went far into the woods to the checkpoint hoping to catch some mobile network. They noticed that people in the next house were quickly packing things to the car, so they approached them to ask about what had happened. People reported that a Borodyan policeman, who has a summer house in the area, was passing by and advised to run away today. He also advised the route.

Without hesitation we got going. Our things were packed, we picked up pets (cat and parrot), took food and went to Radomyshl. It was very scary, because we didn't know if this was still a Ukrainian-controlled territory. We didn't have a downloaded map because we didn't have internet. Signs were removed, not a single soul on the road. But somehow, we’ve made it. It was the toughest 40 kilometers. In addition to everything, we were also running out of fuel. I don't know how we made it”, Julia added.

Julia said that her whole life fit in 2 small backpacks. More precisely in one, because the other backpack was stuffed with food and personal hygiene items.

Julia plans to return to Kyiv as soon as it is safe. She does not plan to go abroad yet, unless the situation is critical, although now it is possible to go to almost any country. But never before she had wanted to be at home in Ukraine so much. It will not be easy after the war. But the lady is confident that both the people and Ukraine will only get better afterwards.

“People who tried to leave were shot at”

Victoria also learned about the start of the war early in the morning on February 24th. She was in her apartment in Irpin. At first she did not want to leave, but help others on the spot. Nevertheless, she had to flee when the occupiers entered the city on March 4th.

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It was just scary. The houses next to mine were on fire. Shots were constantly heard from all directions. I have a child. The occupiers drove along Universitetskaya and Soborna streets and fired. Our guys defeated them, but then others came. People who tried to leave were shot at. My neighbor drove away and was shot. Those who ran on foot were also fired at”, Victoria says.

She recalls that first the electricity and mobile network disappeared, then gas and water. The lady had managed to prepare food and stock up on water in advance, and that they lived hiding in the corridor between the apartments. When they were fired at very hard, they sat in in the basement of the house next doors.

On the morning of March 6th, I went out into the yard and saw a burning house next door: it was glowing and sounding like a waterfall. Then I heard that our people were fleeing and told each other that while our people were controlling the crossing of the bridge where Romanivka was, they still had to flee. I grabbed the child and we ran across the forest to the bridge. We crossed the river and were evacuated by bus. While fleeing, the rashists fired. We fell to the ground, then got up, corpses were all around, Victoria says.

The girl clarified that she took very little belongings with her: a passport, a bottle of water, crackers, instant noodles, matches, candles, essential medicines, some clothes. All this was in a backpack, with which they hid in the basement.

She noted that there are still people left in Irpen. A colleague called her and dropped a photo while she was able to find a mobile network signal: her apartment and the one next door are already without doors and scavenged. Locals also said that the occupiers raped and killed women, after which they simply threw out their corpses.

“There is our home, and we do not want anything else”

Oksana from Irpin says that on February 24th at half past five a friend called her and said that the Russians had started bombing. This was unexpected, because the she did not believe the information about the high possibility of an invasion.

From February 24th to March 3rd, the lady had to live in basements. Then the big question for everyone was - where is the safest place. They said that it was important to be as low as possible, but there were no shelters and the sirens in Irpin did not go off. So people guessed that they had to run and hide after the explosions.

The lady clarifies that the most horrible thing was that there were constant battles for the city. And the city was under the control of the Armed Forces, but then the Russian army tried to capture it again. Therefore, people almost never left their basements.

At the end of February, we began to understand that we needed to flee. There were less neighbors every day. They left. Personally, I had nothing to leave the city on, and no one had officially spoken about the evacuation at that moment. We heard a lot that people who tried to leave the city in their vehicles were just shot at on the roads, and it was very scary. So we just had to wait. A little later, mobile networks, electricity, heating were lost. And then life in basements and vestibules became simply unbearable, says Oksana.

According to Oksana, neighbors constantly said that Russian tanks approached different houses and started firing. And people just expected that at some point they could come to their house and the same thing would happen.

When there were reports of an air raid alarm, we just sat in the vestibule and waited. We had a small child with us and the parents just covered her with their bodies. No one knew what to do in order to survive if the projectile hit the house.

On March 2nd, they saw a message from the mayor of Irpin that an evacuation would be carried out by trains. It was scary, because the civilian population is not spared by the Russian army at all. They just fire, regardless of whether the children are there or the elderly people. However, we decided to give it a try. Having packed minimum number of things, we went to the station the next morning.

The evacuation was psychologically difficult. It was taking place during explosions, and we were standing on the platform waiting for the train, which was 2 hours late. Women were nervous, children were crying, there were a lot of people around. But we all had enough space on the train and we were sent to Kyiv. And the next day they blew up this rail track and evacuations by the railway could not be carried out any more, she said.

Oksana and her neighbor left for Germany. And despite being supported and helped as much as possible, both still want to go home. Before the war there was not even a thought of leaving the country. Nobody wants to be separated from their homeland.

Almost the entire block of flats was evacuated, but my elderly neighbor, who was over 80 and did not want to go anywhere, remained there. We are trying to contact the locals, but there is no mobile network, so we are just waiting for information, hoping our neighbor was also evacuated, and that the building did not collapse. Many houses were destroyed in the neighborhood, and there were many civilian casualties. As soon as the hostilities stop and Ukraine wins, we will return there. Because there is our home, and we do not want a different one, Oksana sums up.