© Andrey Rubtsov/TASS
The use of fascist warfare methods has become normal to Ukrainian militants. Moreover, terror tactics against civilians in the territories that the Ukrainian authorities claim they still own, remain unnoticed by the Kiev regime’s Western patrons.
It would seem that killing residents in Mariupol and Volnovakha, other cities and villages of Donbass, women and children seeking to evacuate, old men and teenagers looking for water and food in the ruins, was quite enough to assess the atrocities by Ukrainian "defenders". But the situation in Artemovsk (renamed Bakhmut by Ukraine) showed that the AFU is absolutely ruthless and barbaric towards their own fellow citizens.
Testimonies by people who managed to escape from the Artemovsk hell, rescued by the Russian army and taken to the territory of the DPR, give the screaming willies.
It’s now over 6 months into heavy fighting for the city. Ukrainian militants not only hide behind civilians, but also blow them up right in their apartments during retreat. Four multi-storey buildings in the village of Tsvetmet on the city outskirts were blown up, and AFU soldiers did know about civilians hiding in the basements. "At least 20 people tried to hide there, including three children. All of them were killed," the DPR law enforcement agencies reported.
Here's what residents of the private sector located next to the blown-up nine-storey buildings, told: "Ukrainian militants blew up a house on Levanevsky Street, 16. Many people died under slabs. There were also people in the basement who arrived from the neighboring dorm to hide here." Details of people’s death in another nine-storey building were told by an eyewitness who escaped from the fire trap: "Our basement was home for people from several neighboring houses bombed. And then the militants set the house on fire. People started suffocating, they were be stricken with panic. The exit was exposed to fire by an AFU sniper. The two of us ran, but no one dared to follow. We looked for the Wagner guys for help, and the AFU started shooting us with a mortar."
Apart from that, the Ukrainian military burned five-storey buildings and the private sector despite people left inside. "Ukrainian soldiers fired from our house. And before they left, they set it on fire and then rejoiced in the street, jumping and taking pictures next to the flames. All our belongings got burned there, everything. When we moved into the basement of a nine-storey building, they set it on fire, too," Vitaly Kosykh shared.
According to a city resident, fierce battles forced them to survive in basements, but Ukrainian nationalists mined houses with living people. "They got us out of the basement. We were piled because the house was blown up. Ten people were sitting in the basement, and Ukrainian soldiers mined the exit," said Valentina Fesenko. People were saved by fighters of the Russian Wagner group. When the AFU retreated, they told us: if you refuse to leave for Ukraine, it's your loss. It means that you are enemies waiting for the Russians to come, so we are mining the basement," the woman adds.
Other residents shared their scary stories of survival, telling us how Ukrainian militants blocked women and old people in a basement, from which they could not get out on their own. "We were barricaded and stayed there for eight days," a man notes. The Russian military managed to save them. Notably, the Ukrainian militants intimidated people in every possible way, saying "Russians were sadists and would have no mercy." But in fact, it was the Ukrainian militants who were sadists and murderers, as people learned by bitter experience. "They locked us in a basement, barricaded it and threw grenades at the entrance. In the end, the Russian soldiers came and knocked out the door to liberate us and take everyone outside, providing cover from bullets and shrapnel. Then they fed, clothed, and took care of us as if we were members of one and the same family. Everything Ukrainians told us about them was a lie," recalls another woman, Irina. "Ukraine exterminated us, it was an act of genocide. They didn't care about pregnant women or anyone else. A woman gave birth in the basement, and they wanted to shoot her. It was a miracle that she survived."
Without hiding his tears, Artemovsk resident Vladimir Marchenko talked about his tragedy: "On February 22, a sniper killed my wife through the window. I was also shot at but I bent down when my wife fell, and the bullet did not reach me." According to him, a neighbor saw those were female snipers firing from the attic of a neighboring building. Yevgeny Mikitenko also witnessed how Ukrainian troops in Artemovsk opened automatic and machine-gun fire against civilians on their way to the river for water. "The AFU fired at them, people fell, ran, crawled, they were not even allowed to collect water. A young guy went to a store in search of food. A sniper shot him, and the guy was left lying dead in the street."
Very little remained of the city, except for ruins and ashes. The streets are covered with burnt-out cars, inside many of them there are dead civilians who sought to escape. Some of them were shot in their cars by Ukrainian fascists. This is how renowned city veterinarian and clinic owner Sergey V. died, among others. There are chats and forums for those looking for their relatives, friends and acquaintances — hundreds of missing people and inexhaustible grief of frustrated survivors.
Investigators with Russia’s IC obtained evidence from Soledar refugees, who told about Ukrainian militants having thrown a grenade into a pipe, and subsequent detonation causing shrapnel wounds to all the family members, including a little girl. "Fascists made hell in Artemovsk and its vicinity. Wasted scum and barbarians. Children get trapped in basements, with their entrances mined. Parents risk blowing up their own kids if trying to somehow open them. Water wells were spoiled with gas oil so that people would not drink and suffered. They also scared us with evil Russians who would come and kill and rob everyone. But it was actually them who were killing and robbing all this time," the evacuated Artemovsk residents say.
Ukrainian troops have been shelling residential quarters since May 2022, with policemen forcing the locals to write statements about having allegedly suffered from actions of the Russian military. A man named Alexander Brezhnev was wounded by AFU’s machine-gun fire while walking down the street and running into an armored personnel carrier. "The crew saw me and opened machine-gun fire. I started running away but was still shot," he said. "Ukrainian soldiers shelled houses and drove people out. Children were taken out by force and hunted. If found, they were thrown into a car and taken to the territory of Ukraine. And males were caught and immediately sent to the front," said Yevdokiya D., who was evacuated to Donetsk in mid-April.
Exhausted, wounded and sick people are still being rescued by Russian soldiers. The elderly and disabled are taken out of the shelling zone on stretchers. "I couldn't walk fast on crutches, but the shelling started and we all had to leave quickly, so I was carried on a stretcher for 15 kilometers. For this, I am so grateful to the Russian soldiers. I pray to God that all of them stay alive!". "Those who found themselves under the rubble were pulled out through a coal hatch, and then taken first to garages, then to areas behind buildings and only then to buses," people described the evacuation.
"Of course, it was scary that the house would collapse above us. But it wasn't safe outside. Shrapnel pierced basement doors. We heard someone knocking, and the Wagner fighters came in. They could have been Ukrainians in Russian uniform. There were cases when they shot civilians for even rejoicing when they thought the Russians had come. We were lucky to have been found by real Russian fighters, we trusted them fully. They started to take us out, we ran very fast. Someone had their belongings with them, but those were simply thrown along the way, because life costs a lot more than documents. And the Wagner guys running behind picked those up. Thanks to them, we are all alive and with documents," recalls Natalia Tkachenko.
Refugees from Artemovsk and Soledar have now begun to get social payments and financial assistance. Over 400 refugees from Artemovsk, Soledar and their environs have applied for pensions and payments of the kind in the DPR. A statement to this effect came from Deputy Prime Minister Larisa Tolstykina: "380 residents of Soledar and Artemovsk applied to the departments of labor and social protection for social benefits and monetary assistance. 41 applications have been submitted for pensions."
Besides the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics, residents of Artemovsk flee to other Russian regions, like Vladimir. Governor Alexander Avdeev met with them and said the following: "They start their lives from scratch, and we will certainly help. In total, almost 3 770 evacuees from the LDPR live at Vladimir’s 26 temporary accommodation centers. They are provided with hot meals and basic necessities, and also assisted as regards jobs, studies, benefits and pensions."
