Alina Lizunova: Ukraine needs support as it fights for freedom

By Alina Lizunova

In early March 2022, Russian soldiers began what they called a cleansing operation in the quiet and forested northern Kyiv suburb of Bucha, Ukraine. The street where I lived became part of the front line, where Ukrainian soldiers and territorial forces stopped the Russian advance. In just a few days, Bucha was littered with bodies and many buildings were destroyed or heavily damaged, including mine.

However, the darkest times were after larger numbers of Russian troops occupied our city and proceeded with executions and rapes. The looting and atrocities committed by Russia became widely known as “the Bucha massacre.”

I was away from home with my 3-year-old daughter when the Battle of Bucha began. Sadly, we left a small white kitten named Jike in our apartment, although neighbors later rescued her.

Neighbors told me Russian troops occupied and ransacked our apartment. One sniper used my kitchen window to control the road to Hostomel Airport. My friend and neighbor – 78-year-old Vitaliy – was coming to feed Jike and was trapped in the apartment, although the Russians eventually released him.

The Russians killed my other neighbor and a friend Yuriy – more than 10 bullets were found in Yuriy’s body. Russians converted one apartment to a prison. In the forest nearby, they engaged in mass executions of civilians.

One habit of the Russian soldiers was to loot one house or apartment and haul what they stole to a neighboring home they occupied. They would leave those stolen goods and take better things they found. They were like pack rats.

The Russians also stole civilian automobiles, which Russian officers had towed to Belarus and sold for profit on the black market. Bucha residents were lucky if they only lost a car. Sometimes Russian tank drivers would roll over occupied automobiles. They boasted of being on a “safari for people.”

In Bucha, where the population before the war was approximately 40,000, during the one month of occupation, 582 civilians were killed, 12 children among them. Many other residents are still missing or imprisoned in Russia. So far it is estimated that about 2 million soldiers and civilians have been killed, wounded or are missing as a result of Vladimir Putin’s invasion and his grandiose vision of reconstituting the Soviet empire. At least 19,500 Ukrainian children are reported to have been forcibly deported to Russian re-education camps and dozens of Ukrainian cities are in ruins.

The heroic defense of Bucha meant that it was liberated quickly as the Russians were forced to retreat from the Kyiv region. Still, my family and I could not return home because the war in Ukraine continues. We are grateful for the sanctuary U.S. residents have provided us.

This winter in Ukraine is unusually cold (temperature falls to minus 12 and lower) with heavy snowfall. But Russian destruction of infrastructure has caused a humanitarian disaster. Electricity is now only on for two hours a day, sometimes not at all for three or more consecutive days. Those without heat or electricity are subject to freezing to death in their homes. It is impossible to rebuild destroyed heating plants quickly, and Putin continually orders the repeat destruction of those plants that are repaired, even after promising that he will refrain during peace negotiations.

We are also grateful for the military and material assistance the U.S., Canada and European Union countries have provided. Still, Russia is a powerful and ruthless enemy and Putin can’t be trusted to negotiate for an equitable peace. His ambitions as an aggressor are not inhibited by the sacrifices the Russian people are forced to make economically and with regard to the lives of more than a million of its soldiers.

Feb. 24 was the fourth anniversary of the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Commemorative rallies took place in lots of cities, and thousands Americans came to show support for our long and exhausting democratic struggle. But to stop Russia more pressure from the U.S. needed. We are fighting for your freedom too.

Alina Lizunova is a software engineer in the energy sector, a member of Palouse For Ukraine and head of Ukrainian NGO Eco-Bucha. She lives in Pullman with her young daughters.