The State Emergency Service released a video from Irpin – the town in the Kyiv region, 100% of which Ukrainian forces now control. Russians continue to shell it.
Rescuers are working on cleaning the destruction and searching for the bodies of the killed civilians. The video was published on the State Emergency Service Telegram channel.
“Irpin … In peaceful times, our calling is saving lives. And now there is war. Our citizens are dying in the occupied territories. And that is why the world needs to see these horrifying pictures from our guys. Today we not only help to save lives, but we also carry out the bodies of our people, whose lives were taken by the enemy. This is hard and dangerous work, but it needs to be done,” the rescuers said.
According to local authorities’ assessment, at least 300 civilians were killed; however, this number is not final as the search continues.
Russian forces attacked Irpin, which is five km away from Kyiv, from the first days of the war. On 27 February, the town’s mayor, Markushin, had said that the enemy attack was repelled, but they started shelling the town from the sky. Russians have captured around 30% of the town’s territory. Last week the Armed Forces of Ukraine controlled 80% of the town. On 26 March, the mayor said that heavy fighting had been going on in the town for several days.
On 28 March, the mayor reported that the Ukrainian forces liberated the town from the enemy. At the same time, it is still dangerous to return to the town as Russians continue to shell it. There are also a lot of mines there.
The enemy still attacks the city from multiple rocket launcher systems “Grad”, tanks, mortars, and artillery. The shelling comes from the direction of Bucha and Vorzel.