I used to love the delicious ice creams sold at Sofia square back when I and and sister Aga belonged to Folkloric Tatranka Subor Dancing Group we used to count our blessings whenever our choreographer Marta Chamilova negotiated a journey to Kyev ska Kiev.
Residents of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv came out to a central Sofia square in the sunshine on Friday to arrange some 1.5 million tulips in the shape of the country's coat of arms.
Defiant Kyiv residents arrange tulips display
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Fifth Russian general is reportedly killed in Ukraine. *Lieutenant General Andrei Mordvichev was killed when armed forces destroyed a command post at an airfield in Kherson, according to statement from Ukraine's military.
Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine has thrust him into the global spotlight. But his private life remains hidden in shadows
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“We are no longer businessmen, bar owners, rock stars for the next I don’t know how many days,” Andriy Khlyvnyuk said. “We are soldiers.”
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Russian troops are running amok, looting houses and firing at random
Troops indiscriminately killing the villagers who remain trapped between them and their prize — the capital Kyiv
The villagers of Andriivka buried Sergey Petrenko as best they could. Some cardboard and planks made a coffin, while two more planks made a rough cross.
It was not the most dignified of funerals — but it showed more respect than he’d had in the final moments of his life.
“He told me that a Russian tank had pulled up in the street nearby to him, and that a man sitting on top of it threw a grenade at him,” said Andrey Lahoda, who found Mr Petrenko lying mangled in the street.
“His legs were lacerated, with a bone protruding. I made a tourniquet, but he only lived for five hours, before he bled to death.”
While the horrors of Mariupol and other flashpoints in Ukraine’s war make world headlines, Mr Petrenko’s death two weeks ago went undocumented. The farming hamlet where he was killed is one of dozens of small villages, west of Kyiv, now caught up in the massive Russian sweep towards the capital.
Most now lie behind enemy lines, unable to communicate with the outside world. In Ukraine’s big cities, strength in numbers affords civilians some protection.
In small villages such as Andriivka, there seems little that can prevent Russian troops running amok.
They have, allegedly, shot civilians dead in the street, looted householders and shops and lobbed grenades and fired tank shells at random.
Although some Russian units have treated residents with respect, locals say that others have gone rogue — apparently surprised that they have been greeted as invaders rather than liberators.
With most of the villages largely cut off, reliable testimony is difficult to come by. However, witness accounts given to The Daily Telegraph paint a picture of life not unlike that experienced by the occupied villages of France in the Second World War.
While some villagers have collaborated with the invaders, others are keen to serve as the eyes and ears of Ukrainian forces. In such a tense environment, residents say, Russian troops have been quick to lash out.
Many of the villages are now largely deserted, their residents having fled at the first sound of approaching Russian tanks late last month.
But Mr Lahoda could not make a quick exit.
His job in Andriivka was running a rehab centre for alcoholics and drug addicts. And when a 100-strong convoy of Russian tanks and artillery pieces rolled through on March 1, he felt obliged to stay put to look after his clients.
I made a tourniquet, but he only lived for five hours, before he bled to death
“That first day, they mainly just drove straight on through, but the day after, they returned and settled in the village,” he said. “At that point I told all my patients to run into a cellar to hide, but Mr Petrenko didn’t make it – he tried to hide in a half-built house next door.
Mr Lahoda’s smart-phone video of the aftermath showed a crater apparently left by the grenade and a patch of grass stained in blood.
The video also showed Mr Petrenko’s body, a voice documenting his horrific injuries for the record.
“This is the deceased Sergey Petrenko. Injuries to his skull, face, a big slash to his cheek. Also significant wounds to his body… his legs are broken, an open fracture.”
The next day, Mr Lahoda sought safe passage from the Russians so he could bury Mr Petrenko in a cemetery, but was refused. “They couldn’t care less,” he said.
Instead, they buried him in the garden of the house they were sheltering in.
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