Bucha and two women moving forward while not forgetting
Observations from delegation’s trip to Ukraine
On April 7, I led a delegation of activists, including Shelby Township human rights leader, Emily Rutkowski, on a tour of a resurrected Bucha, Ukraine. With tree buds bursting and the fresh aroma of renewal in the air, Lynne Weldon, an American English teacher in Bucha took us on a walking tour of this middle-class suburb of Kyiv. It’s a beautiful city of 50,000 with large middle class and working-class neighborhoods. Here we are reminded of the first days two years ago when the Russian full invasion of Ukraine began.
Russia’s first call was Bucha where initially, they were out- maneuvered and repelled by a makeshift group of local citizens. The Russians returned three days later to massacre in execution style some 1,400 citizens including 37 children in the Bucha district. Lynne explained the Russians left behind their “fingerprints” in the form of video camera recordings and other recorded equipment that is now being used to identify those responsible for these war crimes that Putin and his commanders ordered.
Our first stop was The Church of St. Andrew The First Called. As the orthodox services were concluding, parishioners exited the church. We followed them on to the church grounds to a memorial for the victims. Many of them were discovered on church property in a mass grave which revealed over one-hundred murdered bodies. This atrocity is reminiscent of Babi Yar in Kyiv which we had also visited only the day before.
On a commemorative wall near the church were names of the victims engraved on marble squares. I stopped to pay my respects and spent extra time meditating on the names of two victims with the name Gavreluk, my family name on my mother’s side. Each square rested next to the other.
In this terrible war I am always uplifted by heroes who step forward to meet the challenge laid before them. Among those are Lynne and her husband, Andrey, who was a journalist before volunteering for the military who remained in Bucha after the massacre. On this morning walk Andrey was in his camouflaged uniform.
Along the route through the city, Lynne narrated the positions of the entering Russian troops and where the residents ambushed them. We walked by the city library that was closed this Sunday morning, and then the town square that featured a children’s play area with new and creative playground equipment that could be found in most American parks. Also in the square was a large screen that is used for movies and announcements. Near the square was a long row of eye level-billboards of the town heroes who gave their lives in defense of their community. Two rows stretched in a line that ran for about 150 feet, half the length of a soccer pitch. It was quite moving to see their photos and read their names and birthdates.
Earlier, on the tour,
Lynne stopped at an intersection where the initial major confrontation occurred. Here the town’s residents ambushed the unsuspecting Russian troops who had been led to believe that there would be no resistance. They expected to march into Kyiv in three days. Not so.
The invading Russians
were allowed to reach the intersection of the business area before the Ukrainian citizens opened fire with their country rifles and hand made grenades. The trunks of large trees bear the scars and gouges of the battle. The Russians retreated for three days. They then launched another assault with different troops who were seasoned, skilled and brutal.
Further up through the town square was Lynne’s school, a handsome modern grade school building that one might find in any leafy U.S. suburb. Just north, two blocks away from her school, was a children’s campsite that the Russians used to torture Bucha residents.
Lynne led us away in the opposite direction from the scene of the torture camp to another business intersection. Here, businesses had already been rebuilt to replace those destroyed by the Russians. There we met businesswoman/proprietor Yulia Nichvoloda, also known as Juls or Julia. Now 38, Julia had moved to Bucha
from war-torn Donesk in 2011 with her family to build a new life.
Here is how Julia described her first coffee shop: “We were a small young café in the town of Bucha. A place where happy people used to gather, children’s laughter was heard, and the most fragrant coffee was prepared.”
Then on Feb. 24, 2022, a day that is remembered like we honor 9/11, the Russians marched in from Belaru and met fierce unexpected opposition, then retreated only to return to massacre Bucha citizens and destroy their property. Over lunch and returning to her story, Julia related how her town has changed.
“Now, our usually blossoming and friendly Bucha became well known all over the world. But it is not the ‘glory’ we wanted for our town,” she said.
On her website Julia sums up the aftermath. “Many lives will never be returned, many destroyed houses will never be rebuilt, our lives will never be the same. And our cozy café is not an exception.”
Maybe so, but one thing I have learned is that there are exceptions that speak to the nobility and courage of the human spirit. Indeed, those who sacrificed their lives in battle may have created the time and space to have saved Kyiv. We should never forget that. And we should not forget Julia and her story of war.
When the Russians returned to Bucha a squad of a dozen soldiers broke into her house looking for men and military age children. For almost one long month as residents hid in their basements, the Russians roamed the streets of Bucha and terrorized its citizens. To get food and water the older men ventured out of their subterranean dwellings. Often, they did not return, and were later found murdered on their streets.
Julia’s husband and their five children sheltered together in their basement while upstairs she dared to confront the soldiers who invaded her home. She told me she was firm with them. Unlike so many other residents, she avoided harm, and her husband was spared torture and death.
Now Julia has rebuilt that cozy coffee shop and added a terrific burger business next door. And you will not be surprised to learn that she is planning to open a third food establishment with music in Bucha. Her dreams ran up against the cruelest adversity, death, and destruction. Yet she prevailed.
I listened closely to Julia’s intense and gripping story of terror. She is a smart and courageous woman who has stayed to rebuild her community. A new film entitled, “Back to Bucha” captures this story of resurrection and “Jul’s Coffee Shop.” It is a significant part of the hour-long documentary.
Our next destination was to be Yablunska Street. We followed Lynne and her husband for a half a mile until we reached the site on Yablunska street where many were killed by the Russians. Emily had brought flowers for us to place at the site of the massacres. Many of those killed were shot either by snipers or captured and with hands shackled behind their backs were shot to death.
Then, we made our way further up Yablunska. The New York Times identified 36 victims along this milelong residential road. Beyond some fenced areas we could hear the angry snarls and barks of dogs adding to the terror of our experience. At an intersection of handsome homes, Lynne told us that the Russian military had taken over several of these homes and used them as command posts.
We finally reached the end of our long walk up Yablunska Street. Ahead was a small park in front of a Soviet styled apartment building. In the park Lynn explained the significance of this location. She reached into her handbag and showed us photos of men lying dead on the ground. We walked in silence to the side of the building where a makeshift memorial displayed photos of the victims. We now stood on the very site where almost two years before the cold-blooded murders of these innocent men took place.
That was our day in Bucha. We were exhausted, stricken and inspired. Yet through all the horror and darkness there were important remembrances at the church, in the city square, and at the apartment building. And we were uplifted by the shining light of two women who are moving forward yet would not let us forget.