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Transcript/ScriptUSAGM SHARE
((PLAYBOOK SLUG: Ukraine Massacre React
HEADLINE: Shock and Heartbreak After Ukraine Retakes Kyiv Region
TEASER: Many Ukrainians say they believe Russia will keep attacking other regions
PUBLISHED AT: 04/04/2022, 5:11 pm
BYLINE: Heather Murdock
DATELINE: Kyiv and Vinnytsia, Ukraine
VIDEOGRAPHER: Heather Murdock, Yan Boechat
VIDEO EDITOR:
SCRIPT EDITORS: MAS, MPage SR
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA, REUTERS
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _x_ RADIO __
TRT: 2:40
VID APPROVED BY: Holly Franko
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES:
((INTRO))
[[In the wake of Russia’s withdrawal from towns surrounding the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, residents say they are heartbroken by the death and destruction left behind. The Ukrainian government has said evidence appears to show that Russia has committed war crimes. VOA’s Heather Murdock reports from Kyiv and Vinnytsia in Ukraine.]]
((NARRATOR:))
This plot of land in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, has been set aside to bury and honor civilians and soldiers killed in recent battles, and future war victims.
((NARRATOR:))
Over the weekend, as Ukraine announced it had retaken towns surrounding the capital, gruesome reports emerged about the deaths of hundreds of civilians, with many bodies left on the streets.
On Sunday, a giant fire raged in the southern port city of Odesa, after Russian airstrikes hit an oil processing plant and fuel depots around the city.
((NARRATOR:))
In the cemetery in Kyiv, the facility’s director says the war may now be focused further east and south, but he thinks the relative peace in the capital is temporary.
Since the war began in late February, 30 missiles have hit this cemetery.
((Klymniuk Volodymyr, Berkovet’kyaa Cemetery)) ((Male, in Ukranian))
“It is impossible to feel safe here. For example, on March second during the escalation in Bucha, missiles hit our cemetery within 100 meters of the workers. They workers hid inside of the graves and after the hit kept digging.”
((NARRATOR:))
Locals say they are shocked and heartbroken by the recent death and destruction. Kyiv remains a tangle of barricades and the remnants of bombed buildings still lay exactly where they fell after being hit.
Russia says it has withdrawn from Kyiv, but some believe they will continue to attack in other regions.
((Iryna Sherbaniuk, Kyiv Resident)) ((Female, in Ukrainian))
“I don’t trust them. I think they are regrouping, and it could be even worse if Russia moves more troops to the east. It’s not easy for Ukrainian soldiers to protect those regions.”
((NARRATOR:))
In the western part of the country, where air raid sirens are heard daily even though attacks here are infrequent, leaders say their government is preparing civilians to withstand battle.
((Serhii Morhunov, Mayor of Vinnytsia)) ((Male, in Ukrainian))
“We provide different kinds of training. First aid, chemical attack drills, air raid instructions, defense skills, including defending the building we are in now, the city municipality.”
((NARRATOR:))
This school in Vinnytsia is being used to house families who are among the millions of displaced people in Ukraine.
Many say they are furious.
((Tatiana, Displaced Farmer)) ((Female, in Ukranian))
“If we have to, we will fight them with our bare hands and tear them apart for killing our children and everything else they have done!”
((NARRATOR:))
The war in Ukraine has forced about 10 million people to flee their homes and the United Nations says roughly half are children. The Ukrainian government says mass killings in Bucha and other towns near Kyiv appear to be “war crimes.”
((Heather Murdock, VOA News, Vinnytsia and Kyiv, Ukraine.))
NewsML Media TopicsConflict, War and Peace
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateApril 4, 2022 17:14 EDT
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
