On February 23, we met and discussed the level of danger, thinking about how to treat it. But nobody wanted to assume that such events can become real in the 21st century. There was a lot of anxiety, but no one thought it was possible.
How was the night of February 24?
Nothing happened then. They started bombing us on March 2. Before that we heard explosions somewhere far away, but that day an air bomb had fallen. At first, the most difficult thing was that shops, gas stations and pharmacies stopped accepting non-cash payments. You need cash, but you donʼt have it.
Didnʼt i think to leave in the first days? It was possible in the first days to go to Kramatorsk by car. There was one place [in the car], I offered it to Victoria (my girlfriend), but she refused. And then my parents changed their minds, because of our dog. He is quite large, it was unclear how to take him by train from Kramatorsk. There was an acquaintance who could take us out with a dog and cats, he planned to leave, but not right then. So we stayed in the city, actually, because of the dog.
The first two bombs were dropped either on my district or on the one where Victoria was. It happened on March 2. “Our” bomb didnʼt explode, and the one that fell in the center did. The center of Izium is on a mountain, itʼs one of the highest points in eastern Ukraine. At the bottom of it is the river Siversky Donets. After the air bombs, the Russians came to our area as if at home, brought equipment, artillery, and stood along the river. And they started shelling the city center, where there are multi-storey residential buildings. I have already read that 70-75% of these buildings are already destroyed.
Nearly to mid-March, my parents and I were sitting at home all the time. Then I saw the Russians taking out a column of their destroyed vehicles. And I decided that itʼs possible to go out, gather information, see what was happening in the city.
Was it our Territorial Defense that destroyed their vehicles?
Itʼs hard to say for sure. But as far as I know, the Territorial Defense, which was behind the river in the center, had only mortars and small arms. And from these mortars they managed to beat quite heavy equipment. The defense was all locals, they were outnumbered by the Russians, but they held the city center for three weeks. I think itʼs just fantastic. Despite the fact that the Russians were trying to surround the city, somewhere in the south the Territorial Defense had the corridor for supplies, in the direction of Slovyansk.
So when the constant shootings across the river subsided, I decided to walk to it, itʼs about 3 kilometers from me. I saw that part of the city was destroyed. Met locals who said that it was dangerous to get close to the river, because the Russians shot several civilian cars there and the bodies still werenʼt removed. I also saw looting among the locals: they began to take everything out of the shops, even household appliances.
Sometime in the second half of March, the Russians took out their broken vehicles and went in again, more thoroughly. First came their advanced parts, I think the "DPR" units, in bad gear, old boots and work gloves. Interestingly, for several days they tried to stop looting in my area, but then started to join it themselves. Shops that could not be broken due to the bars or thick doors, they just burned.
Sometime in the second half of March, the Russians took out their broken vehicles and went in again, more thoroughly. First came their advanced parts, I think the "DPR" units, in bad gear, old boots and work gloves. Interestingly, for several days they tried to stop looting in my area, but then started to join it themselves. Shops that could not be broken due to the bars or thick doors, they just burned.
Sometime in the second half of March, the Russians took out their broken vehicles and went in again, more thoroughly. First came their advanced parts, I think the "DPR" units, in bad gear, old boots and work gloves. Interestingly, for several days they tried to stop looting in my area, but then started to join it themselves. Shops that could not be broken due to the bars or thick doors, they just burned.
What they were generally doing?
First they occupied schools, kindergartens and churches. They settled there. There was one warehouse, they distributed all the food that was there to the townspeople free of charge. And then the occupiers went inside and drove heavy equipment there. Checkpoints were set up all over the city, which were very different, this is a separate topic. They set their mayor. This is a former employee of the Izium prosecutorʼs office Vladyslav Sokolov.
And what did the current local government do?
Mayor Valery Marchenko left the city somewhere in early March. He didnʼt organize any evacuation. It was difficult to follow this, because on March 6 all [mobile and internet] connection in Izium disappeared. At the same time, electricity disappeared, and with it the water. The gas was gone even earlier. And by March 10, there was definitely no authority in the city. We started turning the radio on somewhere after March 20, because before that we didnʼt understand what date it was, what day of the week, there was no place to charge the phones. It was later when I decided to charge the phone from the car battery, but it gave just a couple of percent [of the charge] a day.
In my case, it was easier because I have a private house. It was possible to heat the house with firewood, there was a fireplace, there was a bath. We collected about 400 liters of water in advance, and in my area there is a water source on the territory of the monastery. There was a lot of food in the freezer. It didnʼt work, but we made ice on the street, so even the meat lasted like that for 40 days. Me and my parents had enough to eat until the beginning of April.
Did neighbors help each other?
Sometimes, but extremely ineffective. For example, our neighbors refused even to sell us potatoes, let alone giving it for free. They were afraid that they themselves would not have enough.
How did the Russians interact with the locals in your part of the city?
The most unpleasant thing we had was that they went into houses, pressed the local population, beat someone, took something away, intimidated, but without such atrocities as it was near Kyiv. “DPR” soldiers entered the house of my acquaintance, started to tell that they will kill the whole family, threw a grenade in his yard. He went to their command and complained about it. After that they came and apologized.
Interestingly, in the second half of March, the Russians brought their radio to Izium. A communication center was set up at the school, and various propaganda fables in the style of "Ukrainians, surrender" began to be aired. They even put their DJ in, he tried to tell the weather forecast. But for some reason the radio only worked for a few days. Also they scattered leaflets which looked like they were designed by some schoolboy.
Could it be connected with a certain loyalty of the local population to the Russians?
Itʼs hard for me to say what percentage of the Izium population is loyal to the Russians. First, it is often a population of 40+ years, and young people are patriotic. Secondly, most of these people donʼt expect, for example, to join Russia or something like that. They are just loyal to Russia and ready to forgive it a lot. Apparently, the Russians also took this into account.
Was there any humanitarian aid from the Russians?
At the beginning of April, the products started to run out. And they started handing out humanitarian aid. I donʼt remember the date, but the first time when they distributed it was somewhere from the 5th to the 10th of April. It was done for propaganda purpose. Their reporters arrived and started filming how the food is distributed. Every person was given several cans of canned fish, a couple of cans of stew, several packets of cereals. And also some bread.
But it was огіе once. The next time there were no cameras or reporters, and the "aid" was way more modest — one can of stew, one packet of cereal, plus some pate. At the same time, their military began to change into civilian clothes, walk around the city, communicate with the population to "understand the mood". And not only that, they entered the cityʼs barter system. Went to the markets, took moonshine from the locals.
How was April in the occupation?
In the first decade of April, our troops began to attack the Russiansʼ positions. With missiles, quite selectively. We have a large parking lot in the area. The occupiers put their equipment there. And at the beginning of April ours [Ukrainian side] fired rockets at this parking lot, burning out everything there. A week later, the rockets landed in a wasteland on the site of a former DOSAAF building. The Russians began to put equipment there, and ours destroyed it with missiles again. Of course, something flew into someoneʼs yard, but it was clear that ours tried to hit the point. And then the school, where the Russians settled, also was blown up. This was in the second half of April.
I heard a Russian telling the locals on the street that 800 their people [Russian soldiers] had left for Slovyansk city, but only 170 had returned. "Just donʼt tell anyone!", he added.
A soldier just simply stood on the street?
He was young, 20 or so years old. He was standing in line for braga information reference
An alcoholic product received by the mashing of grains and water. Itʼs cheaper and considered to be of lower quality than moonshine.
with the locals. Even moonshine has already run out in the city, but braga was sold for 40 hryvnias per half a liter.
So, the shelling increased throughout April. It was ours who destroyed their positions. Some 15 km from us they [Ukrainian military] shelled their [Russian] artillery, it was audible and even visible. Then I read that Russian general was burned down there, Simonov information reference
On May 1, 2022, the Ukrainian media reported citing sources in the General Staff that Russian General Andrey Simonov had been killed in a fire strike on the advanced command post of the 2nd Army of the Russian occupiers in Kharkiv Oblast near Izium.
, it seems. Then Russian missile system was destroyed, just next to us. Accuracy shows that I believe that there is a [pro-Ukrainian] guerrilla movement in Izium. And the shootings lasted in the city for two months, as far as I understand. Some part of the population actively opposes Russians.
Did the priests of the Moscow Patriarchate cooperate with the occupiers?
I saw Russians approaching those churches, being baptized, taking off their hats, kissing icons. The only Ukrainian church in the city was in the center, where Victoria lives, it was damaged by Russian missile. And in my part of the city there are only Moscow Patriarchate churches.
In Izium there is the Holy Ascension Cathedral and the monastery, they are of the Moscow Patriarchate. Even before the war in January, I met its monk accidentally. I took photos there, he approached me, we talked for three hours about life and all that. Already in the occupation, I went to them for water to the source and met him again. He was surprised, knowing my views, and said, "Wow, youʼre alive. Come on, letʼs talk. " And I came to him on Palm Sunday and asked how he felt about these events, about the invasion. He thought for a while and said, "I donʼt know." And then he said, "Well, these [Russians] are our gyus." We talked to him, and Russian soldiers were standing around us. I asked him to help me find dog food, he then handed me a package, and there were cans of pate from Russian soldiersʼ ration. Finally, he told me the following phrase: "I talked to the colonel today, you wonʼt go to Kyiv soon.”
Were there checkpoints in the city?
I had to walk through checkpoints. And for some reason I did not think to erase data on my phone. I saw people being interrogated, undressed, their phones were looked at. I have a tattoo. They [Russians] also asked about them, asked to explain their meaning. When they saw that I had a Kyiv registration, they began to question me meticulously, I said that I was just a student. Then they took the phone. I thought: well, now Iʼl get at least to the basement [for interrogation], and maybe they will shoot me right here. But for some reason they only looked at text messages and Viber, where I have nothing. They didnʼt even go to Telegram messenger. After that I immediately erased everything suspicious from my phone. Because you can get lucky like that only once.
Evacuation
How did you decide to leave the city?
My father has a car. But there was a problem. Most of the townspeople went to Russia. With their own cars or in Russian buses. We knew these routes, but we didnʼt need them. And people rarely went to the unoccupied territory, there were no organized convoys to it. We did not which way would be the best to do it.
At some point we learned that there is a route for departure. I will not say in detail which one, because is may still be used. By this route certain products were transported from [the free part of] Ukraine, and vice versa. We did not know what to expect from it, but still decided to go. And on the morning of May 3 we left.
And what was your general direction?
Towards Kharkiv. Behind Balaklia town, the gray zone information reference
An area in or near a war zone that is not fully controlled by any of the warring parties.
begins, and then the Ukrainian positions appear. The problem was that the Russians did not allow to get into Balaklia those who are not registered there.
How did the Russians behave at the checkpoints?
In different ways. If the checkpoint is on the way out of the city and there are just Russians, they donʼt care about you. There were also Caucasians who did not want to let us through. And we had a legend that Victoria was six months pregnant and needed to go to the hospital in Balaklia.
But in Balaklia there were makeshift checkpoints— with “DPR” soldiers with old rifles. They are rude, behave disgustingly, talk about "8 years of bombing Donbas" information reference
A common myth that Ukraine kept shelling separatist-controlled part of Donbas since 2014. In fact, residential areas largely were intact, and the general level of destruction canʼt be compared to what Russia leaves of ossupied Ukrainian cities. They almost busted our legend. We had to invent new stories, but eventually managed to leave Balaklia.
Then we went to Pervomaysle town. Volunteers have already met and fed us there. Judging by what I saw at the end of April and read after leaving the city, our troops shell Russians quite well there. I saw a column of their damaged vehicles, which went towards Kharkiv and took a turn to Kupyansk. Therefore, we hope that Izium will be taken back by Ukraine. There are still people there, 8-10 thousand people stay somewhere in the city.
P.S. Due to the fact that I had to leave my home due to Russian military aggression, I now need your help. Please provide all possible assistance so that I can organize my life, buy food for myself and be useful to my state.
PayPal - ipuntusov96@gmail.com