It’s been two months since the villages of Okhovka and Malya Rogan were liberated from Russian forces. Ukrainian army successfully cleared the area but the scars of the war and occupation were still fresh when we arrived. Our team came to witness and document the atrocious devastation.
We set out for Kharkiv from Kyiv on the 25th of May, just days after our visit to Moshchun in the Bucha district near Kyiv. We consulted with security officials about the situation and were affirmed that not only were the Russian forces gone, they had taken the time since to explore the main roads and paths for UXO, unexploded ordnance. This was our greatest concern, not the Russian army. One should always remember, there are still artillery shells buried in the earth, possibilities of mines in the fields and booby traps around the area that had been occupied from the beginning of this phase of the war on February 24th.
When we arrived to the area, we brought a batch of basic food subsidies including eggs, milk, bread, cheese, cooking oil, pasta and flour. The crew passed out these items and took the time to connect with the people who arrived at the back of the car. It was not long before they wanted to tell us their stories.
We drove through the village to get an initial scout of the location and arrived at a school that was gutted by the war.
The Russian forces in the area were part of the 138th motorized rifle brigade and the 59th tank regiment. But they met their match when the 92nd brigade of the Ukrainian army, under the command of Colonel Viktor Nikolyuk, along with local volunteers defeated them on March 30th.
A mass grave of Russian soldiers was found by the 92nd separate mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian army. In addition, there were 60 Russian soldiers captured in addition to documents.