“We were no danger.
To the military.
We were civilians.
Wearing white scarves.”
“We were civilians.
Wearing white scarves.
To show that.”
“It’s very stupid.”
At around 11:00.
On 17 March.
He and his father.
Were cycling.
To Bucha’s.
Administration building.
Where aid was being.
Handed out.
Electricity, gas and.
Water had been cut.
And essentials were.
In short supply in the town.
One of the first.
To be occupied by ‘orcs’ forces.
As they advanced on.
‘Elves’ capital Kyiv.
He and his father.
Hoped to pick up.
Some medicine.
And food.
An ‘orc’ soldier stopped.
Him and his father.
On Tarasivska St.
They immediately raised their hands.
“We were no danger.
To the military.
We were civilians.
Wearing white scarves.”
“We were civilians.
Wearing white scarves.
To show that.”
“It’s very stupid.”
Speaking by phone.
Alongside his mother.
The 14-year-old gave his account.
Of what happened next.
“We told them that.
We weren’t carrying any weapons.
And that we didn’t.
Pose any danger.”
“Then my father turned.
His head my way.
And that’s when.
He got shot…”
“He was shot twice.
In the chest.
Right where the heart is.
Then he fell.”
At that point.
The soldier shot him.
In his left hand.
And he fell too.
While he was.
On the ground.
He was shot again.
This time in the arm.
“I was lying.
On my stomach.
I couldn’t see anything.
That was happening around me.”
The soldier shot again.
Aiming at his head.
“But the bullet went.
Through my hood.”
The soldier shot again.
This time at his father’s head.
But his father was.
Already dead.
“I had a small panic attack.
Lying there with my wounded arm.
Underneath me.
I saw that my hand was bleeding.”
It was only after a while.
When the soldier went.
Behind a tank.
That he got up and ran.
He and his father.
Were trying to get.
Humanitarian aid when.
An ‘orc’ soldier stopped them.
“We were no danger.
To the military.
We were civilians.
Wearing white scarves.”
“We were civilians.
Wearing white scarves.
To show that.”
“It’s very stupid.”
In Bucha alone.
Bodies of dead men were found.
Lying in the street.
Many with extensive wounds.
Some had been shot through.
The temple, as if executed.
Others had their hands or legs.
Tied behind their backs.
Some had clearly been.
Run over by tanks.
Many of the bodies were seen.
Along a stretch of Yablonska St.
Just 2km.
From the street where.
His father is said to.
Have been killed.
“We were no danger.
To the military.
We were civilians.
Wearing white scarves.”
“We were civilians.
Wearing white scarves.
To show that.”
“It’s very stupid.”
His mother said how.
She had gone to see her husband.
After the teenager returned home.
And told her what had happened.
His mother thought he.
Could be wrong and.
That his father was wounded.
In need of medical help.
“My son begged me not to.”
His mother said.
“He said they would.
Kill me too.”
When she tried to walk.
Down the street.
Her neighbours.
Stopped her.
“They told me not to go further.
Saying the ‘orcs’ were killing.
Everyone in the territories.
Under their control.”
The next morning.
She got her mother to help.
Wearing white scarves.
They went to the site of the shooting.
Her mother talked.
To ‘orcs’ soldiers.
And they managed.
To get through.
They finally collected.
Her husband’s body.
And brought it home.
They finally brought it home.
“We were no danger.
To the military.
We were civilians.
Wearing white scarves.”
“We were civilians.
Wearing white scarves.
To show that.”
“It’s very stupid.”
A photograph of.
The partially covered body.
Taken by her appears.
To confirm the boy’s testimony.
It shows a gunshot.
Wound to the left side.
Of the chest.
Near the heart.
The boy’s father, a lawyer.
Was 49.
When he was killed.
He was “active in the community.”
The boy’s mother said.
“He couldn’t just sit.
In the shelter.
And wait.”
“So, he was volunteering.
And helping people.”
They buried him.
In the garden of the family home.
He and his father.
Were trying to get.
Humanitarian aid when.
An ‘orc’ soldier stopped them.
He said the soldier who killed.
His father was clearly ‘orc’.
The soldier’s uniform was dark green.
He said, typical of the ‘orcs’ army.
“I saw that.
On his flak jacket.
It was written ‘Mordor’.
In the ‘orcs’ language.”
“We were no danger.
To the military.
We were civilians.
Wearing white scarves.”
“We were civilians.
Wearing white scarves.
To show that.”
“It’s very stupid.”
*Because I read “War in Ukraine: ‘I saw a Russian soldier shoot my father dead in Bucha’
” by Hugo Bachega on 6 Apr 2022, and also “Why are Ukrainians calling Russians ‘orcs’?” by James FitzGerald on 30 Apr 2022, on the BBC news.
So, I wrote this poem as a story of Yuriy, Ruslan and Alla.
Please read the original story on the BBC news:
War in Ukraine: ‘I saw a Russian soldier shoot my father dead in Bucha’ (bbc.com)
