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Her brothers were executed in Bucha, but she can’t bear to go to their new memorial [1]
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Date: 2023-07-16
By: William Glover Weiss and Tim Mak
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It has been more than a year since two of her brothers were killed, but Valentyna Chmut still can’t bring herself to go to the memorial that marks their deaths.
Valentyna is a resident of Bucha, the Kyiv suburb now known for the torture, killing and looting Russian forces committed there while occupying the region in the spring of 2022. This month locals erected a monument to those killed during the atrocities: more than 500 names are listed on silver plaques.
“We cannot forget this. We cannot forgive,” the mayor said , during the memorial’s unveiling this month.
The recently finished memorial.
The Bucha atrocities marked a turning point in the war: when they were revealed to the world, Ukrainian public opinion dramatically changed. There was fury about the way Russian forces had treated civilians, and hopes for a quick war or a near-term diplomatic solution vanished. For many Ukrainians, the post-Bucha era signified that there was only one way to end the war: total victory over the invading forces.
Chmut owns a clothes and shoe store in an open-air market near the center of Bucha. She managed to survive the period of occupation, as did her store. But not without terrible memories of traumatic events, which she shared with us when we met her there this weekend.
The first two weeks of the invasion were chaotic for Valentyna. Her two brothers, Yuri and Vitya (both civilians), would routinely come to check on her, and she had a neighbor who would help.
A photo of Yuri, Valentyna's youngest brother.
Death was all around them: her neighbor's son was beaten to death by Russians and his body lay on a couch for two weeks before they were able to bury him in a backyard.
"It was really scary to go anywhere, the center was bodies lying around everywhere, dead people with bikes," she said.
Between the shelling, Russian soldiers came to her door many times, but they were not as harsh with her compared to others because she spoke Russian.
“Other people were saying that Russians took their phones and destroyed them, but with me, they just pointed out that it is prohibited to picture anything and call and text anyone. And don’t walk anywhere, for your own safety," Chmut recounts.
An older Russian wore red moccasins instead of military boots, she remembers distinctly. They did not believe she lived alone at first, due to the number of cigarette butts on her table, but after a search, they concluded she was telling the truth and they left her relatively undisturbed.
Valentyna's property seen after the Russian retreat.
"The thing is that I was so afraid, that I forgot the Ukrainian language. Three armed men entering your house, who wouldn't get scared?" she said. Valentyna spent almost 30 years of her life living in Russia, where her grandson is currently hiding from mobilization. She moved to Ukraine in 2000 to take care of her sick parents but stayed after they passed.
She last saw her youngest brother, Yuri Pavlenko, on the 10th of March. She lost contact with both of her brothers on March 12th, but did not find out what happened to them until April 2nd, after the Russians had retreated.
She had to piece together the events from others. From speaking to people, Valentyna learned that her brothers had been tortured and beaten when they were captured by Russian forces.
"People heard a lot of moans and screams. [Russian soldiers] moved into the house where they tortured my brothers. All the walls and radiators were covered in blood. On this street, many people were killed," she recounts solemnly.
After beating them, the soldiers dragged them outside, and executed them in the streets, according to eyewitnesses.
"First they shot my middle brother in the head and then stopped for a smoking break, making my youngest brother watch and after that, they shot him as well," Valentyna says haltingly.
A wall pockmarked by shrapnel just outside of the open-air market.
Nearly 500 days after the Russians were forced to retreat from the outskirts of Kyiv, a memorial now stands in a park at the edge of the city, commemorating victims of the occupation like Yuri and Vita Pavlenko.
The memorial bears the names of hundreds of men, women, and children killed in the city.
Vitya's plaque.
It speaks to the importance that Ukranians place on remembering, even while people are still fighting and dying in the war; even while atrocities are still being committed.
Valentyna has not been to look at the two plaques that bear her brothers' names.
“What is it to me?” she said.
Perhaps the emotional trauma she had endured is not something she wanted to be reminded of; her legs hurt her, and she doesn’t walk very much anymore, she added.
Or maybe the memorial is poor compensation for the pain she’s gone through.
Yuri's plaque.
Some of those we spoke to in Bucha refused to talk about their family members on the panels: “I’m sorry, I’ve suffered enough at this stage of my life. For now, I’d like to try to leave it behind,” said one person whose close relative was killed.
The memorial stands as tribute to the fallen.
Some, like Valentyna, stand at the in-between point: she doesn’t need a memorial to remember something that, for her, is impossible to forget.
The Counteroffensive with Tim Mak is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber!
Good morning to readers; Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.
And as the counteroffensive extends into its second month, there are signs that Russian forces along the frontline are facing critical shortages of weapons and ammunition.
A video from Russia's 72nd brigade shows soldiers complaining that they have just a handful of ammo, two rifles for 22 people, and insufficient heavy weaponry. When they went to collect ammunition, they were turned back, they said.
Video showing Russian soldiers complaining about shortages.
These anecdotal reports track with broader problems in Russian logistics, which the Ukrainians have been systematically targeting. One seasoned analyst told us that Ukrainians had been repeatedly striking Russian targets in rear areas over the recent weeks.
“Ukrainian efforts seem to be [focused] on… systematically degrad[ing] Russians forces (as opposed to conducting large mechanized maneuver[s]) for the time being,” said George Barros, a Russia analyst with the Institute for the Study of War.
Meanwhile, some of Russia's most capable (and brutal) soldiers -- the mercenaries of the Wagner Group – appear to have arrived in Belarus over the weekend, the Kyiv Post reported . A large convoy of some 60 vehicles, with license plates from occupied Ukrainian territories, were spotted crossing into the country from Russia.
The atrocities committed by Wagner and Russian forces over the past year and a half have also severely damaged world opinion of Putin and his regime.
Notably, public opinion on Putin has dramatically worsened: in Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria, Argentina and South Africa, the percentage of people who said they had "no confidence" that the Russian leader would "do the right thing regarding public affairs" rose substantially over the past few years.
Still, the Pew Research Center report found that in India and Indonesia, more were confident that Putin would do the right thing than those who felt the opposite.
Pew’s latest study.
Meanwhile, throughout much of the west and Asia, Zelenskyy inspires a great deal more confidence, with approval of his leadership highest in places like Sweden, Poland, the U.K., Canada, Japan, South Korea and Japan.
Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Nigeria, South Africa, and Indonesia had much lower levels of confidence in Zelenskyy.
Pew’s latest study.
Finally, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace announced that he would be stepping down soon from his post; this comes just days after the staunch pro-Ukraine politician warned Ukrainians that the UK was not an "Amazon" delivery service for weapons, and that Ukrainians ought to show more "gratitude."
In response, Ukrainians thanked Wallace in effusive and mocking ways, sarcastically thanking him, in this one tweet, for allowing Thursday to arrive.
A meme circulating among Ukrainians.
The Counteroffensive with Tim Mak is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber! Hi, it’s Tim here from The Counteroffensive’s world headquarters in central Kyiv.
I recently spent a week in Poland, traveling with the Kaplan Public Service Foundation , which bridges the gap between civilian and military worlds.
We traveled to Powidz to meet with U.S. forces here, and it was striking just how much the Russian invasion of Ukraine has changed Poland, especially with regards to the American presence.
The 82nd Airborne landed within 48 hours of Russia's initial full-scale invasion last February, and were replaced by the 101st, which were subsequently swapped out for 10th Mountain Division.
An entrance to the U.S. base at Powidz.
We also met with the amazingly professional Predator, Apache and Blackhawk pilots that were stationed there for training and deterrence purposes. It’s astonishing to me just how squared away these soldiers were – not a question I asked phased them.
The outside of an Apache, and a view from the cockpit.
Over the last year and a half, American forces have strategically prepositioned equipment and supplies in Poland in case of an emergency. They’ve quite literally built vast cities to house and train soldiers. To feed the troops, a giant tent was erected as a makeshift dining facility.
Brand new highway infrastructure has been built to accommodate the surge in soldiers. Should troops and material be needed to be moved quickly across the country, a railhead has been built near the base to quickly onload or offload supplies.
I’ll soon be traveling back to D.C. in order to attend a wedding, and while I’m there I’ll be looking for hot sauce to retrieve and get back. Apparently there is a worldwide shortage of Sriracha, which even CNN has caught onto . Will sent me this screenshot, asking whether we could spend company money to “pull the trigger” on the purchase.
Prices for two bottles of Sriracha in D.C.
We’re not quite that desperate. Yet.
Today’s Cat o’ Conflict is this feline that I spotted near a crepe shop in central Kyiv. When I looked over next, someone had dumped a bunch of cat food at its feet, which he/she cautiously approached and began eating.
A cat in Central Kyiv.
Stay safe out there.
Best,
Tim
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