'They Came After People': Russians Tortured Civilians in Bucha and Then Burnt Their Bodies

On 31 March 2022, the Defence Forces liberated Bucha in the Kyiv region. The Ukrainian territorial defence units that entered the newly de-occupied town filmed burnt bodies. Because the bodies were so badly mutilated, the military thought they were Russians who had been killed. However, in fact, the video shows six civilians from the Lisova Bucha neighbourhood. They were tortured, executed and then burnt by the occupiers.

From law enforcement officers, Slidstvo.Info journalists received information about some Russian soldiers who were stationed in Lisova Bucha at the beginning of the great war. Slidstvo.Info called the occupiers and their relatives, and also talked to the residents of Bucha whose relatives were brutally killed.

This is described in the material from Slidstvo.Info.

‘MY MOTHER’S FINGERS AND HEEL WERE CUT OFF. MY FATHER’S BODY WAS LIKE A SIEVE’

Lidia and Serhii Sydorenko had lived in Bucha for over 40 years. Before retiring, Lidia worked as a shop assistant, and afterwards she grew flowers and devoted herself to her grandson. Lidia’s daughter, Tetiana Naumenko, calls her ‘fairy mum’ — in all the photos, she always has a smile on her face, and on her shelf sits a slightly dusty make-up bag — even in retirement, Lidia Feodosiyivna always strived to be beautiful and well-groomed.

Lidia and Serhii Sydorenko

Tetiana’s father, Serhii Oleksandrovych, worked in the gas service for about 20 years. He loved to go mushroom hunting and cared for homeless animals, three of which the family eventually took in at home. In 2014, Lidia and Serhii Sydorenko took part in the Revolution of Dignity.

Serhii Sydorenko

‘We became very close when I grew up. My mornings would start with getting my son ready for school or nursery, then I would go to my parents’ house, make coffee, and spend an hour and a half in frank, pure conversation. Generally about current events, about what was happening in the country, because my parents were not indifferent,’ says Tetiana Naumenko.

Tetiana lived with her parents in neighbouring houses, so they often spent time together, she adds. But since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, her parents had moved into their daughter’s house. When all communication disappeared, Tetiana, her husband and 12-year-old son decided to try to leave the occupied city. They offered this to her parents. However, they refused because they were worried about their cats (the family had eight) and were also convinced that they were not in danger due to their old age.

‘On this issue, there were thoughts that young men were more of a threat, as they might resist and take action against the Russian occupiers. And pensioners were definitely not a threat to them (the Russians — ed.). There were no roads left for a safe exit. But still, my friend called me and said: “Tanya, we have half an hour” (she got a call from someone she knew, either a military officer or from the prosecutor’s office). Of course, we offered it to my parents and brother. The parents refused. We decided to go,’ recalls Tetiana Naumenko.

Tetiana, her husband and son managed to leave occupied Bucha. Every few days, her parents got in touch and reported that they were fine.

‘There were short conversations, 30 seconds long. “How are you?” “I’m fine.” My mother was a great optimist in life. I don’t remember my mother ever being sad, or having any negative thoughts, or crying. And when our city was already occupied, my mother was the first to go to the Russian military for negotiations. My father scolded her a lot for this later,’ says Tetiana.

The last time the woman managed to get in touch with her parents was on 22 March. It was around 11 am. Then, Tetiana recalls, her mother was crying a lot, even though she had never seen her cry in her life. ‘I was so shocked at the time. They felt like they were in for a bad situation,’ Tetiana recalls.

That day, the Russian military visited the Sydorenkos. Soon after, the couple were brutally murdered in their neighbours’ yard. After the town was liberated, Tetiana found a fragment of her mother’s scalp and two bloody hats. It took her six months to find the bodies.

‘My mother’s fingers and heel were cut off. My father’s heels were cut off. There was a wire in his neck. My father had multiple bullet wounds on his body. His body was like a sieve, there wasn’t a single unharmed spot. I still have these photos of them from the morgue. It was horrific,’ Tetiana recalls with tears in her eyes.

After the Russians tortured the Sydorenko family to death, their bodies were burned. This was probably done to hide the traces of the torture. The occupiers did the same to four other residents of Lisova Bucha — local teacher Tetiana Shypilo, her husband Volodymyr and son Andriy. A relative of the Shypilo family, Oleh Yarmolenko, was also identified among the dead. After the de-occupation, the bodies of six people were found at the intersection of Staroyablunska and Ivan Franko streets.

A local resident, Yashar, witnessed the Russian military transporting the charred bodies of the locals on a tank and then leaving them at the crossroads.

‘This incident happened on 28 or 29 [March]. They (Russians — ed.) brought me there in a tank. They were wearing Russian uniforms, with tape on their helmets. It was around three or four o’clock, something like that. We did not go outside at all. How can you go out? Then, after an hour and a half or two hours, we went out to see what was happening. And we saw burnt people. I went there and saw a tripwire. I told my father-in-law: ‘It’s a tripwire, don’t come near it’. They touched each other with this tripwire. If you touch it, it will explode,’ says Yashar.

‘IF EVERYTHING IS FINE, WE WILL LET HIM GO’

During the occupation of Lisova Bucha, Russians killed 24 civilians, the Bucha City Council told Slidstvo.Info. However, this figure may be larger, as the graves of 54 Bucha residents remain unmarked — they have not yet been identified. Some of the tortured civilians were burnt by the Russians, while the bodies of other shot Buchans lay in the middle of the streets.

Among those killed by the Russian military during the occupation was 27-year-old Volodymyr Cherednychenko. He lived in Lisova Bucha with his mother Nadiya. In 2018, Volodymyr’s father Serhii, who had served in the ATO zone for several years, died of cardiac arrest in his sleep. In 2017, Volodymyr was also at war.

27-year-old Volodymyr Cherednychenko

‘My son loved everything creative, he was passionate about everything. Recently, he worked on pallets. He helped me with everything, always supported me. There were such plans (he was 27 years old), I said: “Son, you will get married. You’ll have a family, children, you’ll bring them here” — I had a flat in Kyiv from my parents. I said: “You will live in Kyiv, I will be here. You will bring the kids”. And then we woke up and the rumours started, the neighbours started shouting that the Buryats had come, that there was a war,’ recalls Nadiya Cherednychenko.

Nadiya and her son did not leave Bucha during the occupation. One day in March, five Russian soldiers broke into the Cherednychenkos’ house, trying to find evidence that men from the Cherednychenko family had fought in the east. In the end, they found nothing, because Nadiya had hidden her husband’s and son’s uniforms and awards in the cellar beforehand.

‘And then the search. They turned the whole house upside down. I said: “What do you want? Why are you doing all this?” — “We know. Be quiet.”

My son took pictures of the points where they were stationed and passed the information to our lads. And they found these photos on his phone. They were taking him away, I was shocked, I said: “Where are you taking him?” — “We’ll check him, if everything is fine, we’ll let him go,” says Nadiya.

Volodymyr Cherednychenko was held in one of the houses where the Russians set up their headquarters. Volodymyr was allowed to see his mother once every three days – he was taken outside for a few minutes. The mother and son could exchange a few words through the wooden fence. Nadiya recalls seeing marks of beatings on her son.

When Nadiya came to see her son again, she was told that ‘he was not here’. Later it turned out that Volodymyr had been shot in the head.

‘I was very depressed for three months. I didn’t want to do anything. My son comes to me in my dreams. I always dream of a long road, the sun and him in his military uniform laughing. “Mum, are you okay?” And I say: “Son, I want to hug you so much.” I’m getting closer to him, and he’s moving further and further away,’ Nadiya says.

RUSSIAN SOLDIERS FROM THE 234TH REGIMENT MAY HAVE TORTURED AND EXECUTED PEOPLE IN LISOVA BUCHA

At the beginning of the full-scale war, soldiers from the 234th Guards Assault Regiment of the Russian Federation were stationed in Bucha, among others. From police officers investigating war crimes in Bucha, journalists managed to obtain the names of some of them. Slidstvo.Info showed photos of the occupiers to Nadiya Cherednychenko, who did not leave the city during the occupation. Two faces seemed familiar to her.

Nadiya pointed out 27-year-old platoon commander Yuri Kim from Balashikha, Moscow region. Kim is a professional soldier. On his VKontakte page (which is now closed), he indicated that he studied at the St. Petersburg Suvorov Military School.

Photos of Yuri Kim in military uniform with chevrons of this school were also published on one of the Russian Orthodox websites in 2014. At that time, cadets, including Kim, posed for photos at an exhibition about “Orthodox Rus”.

A more recent photo of Kim, which was found on social networks, is dated March 2022. It was taken in Bucha. It was during this time that civilians were being mass murdered in the city. In the photo, Yuri Kim is sitting by a campfire with his subordinates, smiling.

This photo was published on VKontakte by Kim’s subordinate, Vladislav Pervunin. Vladislav’s page has many photos in uniform, and in the comments, the occupier is called “Russian elite”.

Vladislav Pervunin (left)

At least one of the Russians captured in the photo is already dead. This is 33-year-old Grigoriy Karachentsev, who died in the ‘Special military operation’ two months after he left Bucha. Soon after, he was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage.

Slidstvo.Info could not reach platoon commander Yuriy Kim. However, the phone was answered by his sister Lilia, who, for some reason, disowned her older brother.

– I’m looking for your brother Yuriy Kim, I can’t get through to him. Do you know where he is?

– I don’t know who he is, sorry, goodbye.

Another Russian named by Nadiya Cherednychenko from Bucha is Anatoly Pavlov, who calls himself Anatoly Lunacharsky on VKontakte. Anatoly, 34, is an active user of social networks. He posts photos of himself with his wife and two sons, and in his status he writes that ‘we shouldn’t worry about what we can’t change’.

The occupier is from the village of Chelkumagi in the Chuvash Republic. That is, Pavlov travelled more than 2,000 kilometres to kill Ukrainians in Bucha. Pavlov himself did not respond to journalists’ calls, so Slidstvo.Info called his mother under the guise of a cover story. However, the conversation did not go well.

– Hello, Nadezhda Mikhailovna, this is the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation. I’m enquiring about Anatoly Valerievich Pavlov.

– Of course, the Investigative Committee (hangs up the phone — author’s note).

Among the Russians of the 234th Regiment who captured Bucha is a 38-year-old exemplary family man, father of two, Pavel Kretinin. Kretinin’s page contains many photos with his daughter, who has been dressed in a blue vest and beret since she was a baby, similar to what paratroopers wear in Russia.

 Pavel Kretinin

From the posts of the occupier’s wife, Yelena, it can be concluded that Kretinin continues to fight in Ukraine. Yelena constantly posts family photos and writes about how much she is waiting for Pavel to return home.

Slidstvo.Info called Pavel Kretinin under the pretence of being from the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation. This body is currently investigating the case of the former commander of the 234th Regiment, Colonel Artem Gorodilov, who is currently in a Russian detention centre on fraud charges.

According to Slidstvo.Info, Gorodilov was actually detained because he stole and took away household appliances from the homes of Bucha residents, and later the stolen property was not transferred to the balance of his military unit but disappeared without a trace.

– Artem Gorodilov has provided new testimony, and we now have to check all the data again. We recently interrogated him and he said that when you were on a mission together in Bucha in March 2022, you went into civilian homes with him and took some things for yourself. Was there such an episode?

– No, of course not.

– He also says that his subordinates (including you) burned the bodies of civilians to hide the traces of the shootings. Did you see this and perhaps participate in it?

– I did not participate and did not see it. I can only say that if you have any questions for me, please call me officially, I am ready to give some testimony. On the phone, I have no idea who I am talking to. You can call yourself anyone you want. If you are really from the government, you should understand that this information could come from the enemy. So I cannot trust you. At the moment, I am at the ‘special military operation’.

Another fighter of the 234th regiment, Shamil Hasanguliyev, could have tortured and executed civilians in Lisova Bucha. He is 29 years old, and lives with his parents and two brothers in Pskov. The occupier has been serving in the army since at least 2016 — Hasanguliyev’s mother, Svetlana, published photos of her son in an airborne troop uniform.

Shamil Hasanguliyev

It seems that Svetlana is trying to raise a whole generation of ‘defenders of the fatherland’, as even the youngest of the Hasanguliyevs, Timur, who is now 11 years old, was photographed in uniform.

– Hello, Svitlana Volodymyrivna?

– Yes.

– Good afternoon, do you know that your son Shamil Farhadovich killed civilians in Bucha in March 2022?

– This is a lie.

– Look, he was in Bucha in March 2022.

– Who are you?

– I am a journalist.

– Do not call me again.

According to law enforcement, soldiers of the 234th Regiment Pavel Dzhumangaliev and Yevgeny Meshalkin may also be involved in war crimes in Lisova Bucha.

The police told Slidstvo.Info that they are currently collecting evidence of the involvement of the Russians mentioned in the text in the killings and abuse of civilians in the Lisova Bucha neighbourhood. Nine soldiers of the 234th Regiment have already been served with suspicion notices for the crimes in Bucha. They are Adil Navruzaliyev, Kazmurat Sergaziyev, Dmitry Yedrenkin, Tsirenzhap Budayev, Valentin Manzyrov, Alexey Gorelov, Artur Platschin, Denis Monakhov and Nikolay Kartashev. The occupiers will be tried in absentia. They will serve their sentences in prison only if they are captured by Ukrainians. The 234th Regiment is still fighting in Ukraine. 

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