Ukrainians Say Russian Enemy Troops Are Moving Into Their Abandoned Homes

Amid a brief pause in the conflict, Ukrainian forces have taken the offensive.

A 19-year-old Ukrainian soldier named Anatoli said, “We are attacking them because they are running out of artillery shells. We can say that Irpin now belongs to them. But we will cut them off now that the civilians are out.”

The Kyiv government has been trying to negotiate safe evacuation routes with Moscow for cities that are surrounded by Russian forces and heavily shelled. Unfortunately, these agreements have mostly failed, and Russian military deliberately targets civilians as they attempt to flee.

So far, no agreement has been reached for a safe corridor out of Irpin, which is located in northern Ukraine near the capital, Kyiv.

Until Sunday, residents could leave Irpin by train. However, the Russians bombed the train tracks, destroying the safest and most convenient escape route. On Tuesday, the only way out was through the debris of a bridge that the Ukrainian army had blown up to prevent Russian forces from advancing into Kyiv, just 15 miles to the east, with tanks and armored vehicles.

According to Ukrainian soldiers who spoke to BuzzFeed News, thousands of residents are being urged to leave immediately because Russian forces are not only relentlessly bombarding Irpin, but also looting food, gas, and other supplies, and taking control of what remains of the city.

A woman named Anna, in her 60s, stated that if enemy soldiers hadn’t broken into her family’s home, they wouldn’t have left.

Initially, Russian President Vladimir Putin believed that his military would quickly conquer Ukraine and force Kyiv to surrender. However, he underestimated the fierce resistance and resilience of Ukrainians. Now, what he called a “special military operation” has turned into an act of terror, with the aim of breaking the will of Ukrainians by besieging their cities and indiscriminately firing rockets named tornado, hurricane, and hail.

Despite facing the most intense fighting in Europe in decades, Ukrainians remain defiant.

Oleksandr Markushyn, the mayor of Irpin, revealed that Russian forces had sent him a death threat and demanded the surrender of the city on Monday.

“I am surprised that these monsters still don’t understand that Irpin doesn’t surrender, Irpin is not for sale, Irpin is fighting!” he wrote on Telegram on Tuesday.