From our special correspondent in Boutcha,
Excavators and construction machinery replaced charred tanks along Vokzalna Street. It was in this residential alley that the advance of Russian forces towards the Ukrainian capital came to a halt on February 27, 2022. The place where, for many Ukrainians, the “lightning” attack dreamed of by Vladimir Putin was struck down. About fifty Russian tanks were bombarded while they borrowed this residential alley right towards Irpin, suburbs and door of kyiv. More than a year later, the images of desolation, guns melting on the tarmac and cars overturned on the roadway have slowly faded. Construction workers bustle along the road. Boutcha la suppliciée, where Russia was accused of perpetrating mass crimes and where more than 450 civilians were murdered by Kremlin forces, is rising from its ashes.
“This street is a real symbol, it is here that we stopped the advance of a column of Russian tanks which was heading straight for kyiv”, underlines Aleksander, who works on the site. With its small suburban residences, Vokzalna Street did not see its fame coming. But today it is “very striking for everyone”, underlines the manufacturer. So significant that Boutcha seems to be a priority for reconstruction. “The mayor of Boutcha often starts his day by visiting this street, we will end up opening a reception for him”, laughs Sergiy who watches the house of his relatives, in full reconstruction. “All the villages around Boutcha are under construction”, however tempers the deputy mayor of Boutcha, Miléna.
Pieces of tanks all the way to the garden
The reconstruction of these villages, Boucha included, is financed by the town hall of Boutcha, the town hall of kyiv – renamed military administration of kyiv since the Russian invasion – and the Global Empowerment Mission (GEM). In front of a small suburban house, Sergiy sunbathes on a sofa. The 63-year-old man watches the house of his relatives. The mother is busy inside to cook. The workers are building the outer enclosure of the dwelling and renovating the facade. The family continues to live inside despite the work.
During the occupation, “the Russians brought people to their knees, held them at gunpoint,” recalls Sergiy. So it’s not a few drill noises that will keep them away from their home. “Just at the end of the garden, a Russian tank had moved in and was firing in the direction of Irpin,” says the son of the house, also named Sergiy. In the middle of the grass, traces of the passage of Russian forces are still visible. Here, a ball. There, a piece of tank that landed in the ground after a hit. Their house remained standing. A chance when the violence of the fighting demolished whole sections of this city of 30,000 inhabitants.
Boutcha’s blank page
“On one side of the street, all the houses have been destroyed. They had to be rebuilt from the foundations to the roof, nothing was left,” explains Aleksander. “It was really difficult to clear everything. We needed a lot of big machines, the metal had melted all over the ground because of the war,” explains the worker. It will take “at least another two weeks” to rehabilitate the road, the sidewalks and the barriers of the houses, estimates the 30-year-old. The town hall of Boutcha hopes that the work will be completed by the end of the month. For the homes that have been reduced to nothing, the improvements will continue inside so that they are once again habitable.
In the ashes of war, Sergiy welcomes the support of the international community and his neighbours. “With the war, people have become more united. They have understood that you have to live as a community,” says the 60-year-old, while behind him house painters are applying a new coat of white to the facade of the house. Boucha has turned the page. And its inhabitants want this new blank page to be written with more peace of mind.