Forced into a basement in Ukraine, residents began to die

By OLEKSANDR STASHEVSKYI
Associated Press

YAHIDNE, Ukraine (AP) — The Russian soldiers forced more than 300 villagers into a school basement. Then, during weeks of stress and deprivation, some began to die. Residents of Yahidne, a village 140 kilometers (87 miles) from Kyiv, told The Associated Press about being ordered into the basement at gunpoint after the Russians took control of the area around the northern city of Chernihiv in early March. In one room, those who survived wrote the names of the 18 who didn’t. One weary survivor said “an old man died near me and then his wife died next.” Village by village, Ukrainians in areas where Russian troops have withdrawn continue to unearth new horrors. More are feared.