Yuriy Biriukov, ambassador of the NGO "Community Matters", about his impressions of the trip to Irpin and Bucha:
"Yesterday we were given a task. It was not a heroic or combat mission at all. We had to reconnoiter the situation in the Irpin-Bucha-Gostomel triangle and make it possible to provide humanitarian aid. Somehow, absolutely on automatic, we prepared a couple of hundred food packages at night, collected water, medicine, baby food. But without clear plans, we went on a reconnaissance mission in the morning.
"Just don't go, just don't go." She clung to my sleeve and wouldn't let go.
I will not post most of today's photos. I will not tell you the details. I will try to push it all into the farthest corner of my memory. I have seen many destroyed cities over the past eight years, the ashes of the Russian peace. But I have not yet seen the consequences of Russians' "entertainment" with unarmed civilians shot for fun. I will not forget. I try not to remember, but I will not forget. And I will never forgive. I hate it. I hate everything Russian. All Russians.
"Just don't go, just don't go." She clung to my sleeve and wouldn't let go.
I think we were the first humanitarian convoy in Bucha. No heroics, we did not fire a single shot to liberate Bucha. We brought food. And people started... they somehow... reached out to us. They touched our chevrons. They hugged us and thanked us. They were crying. They cried all the time. They were crying all the time. They hugged us. They hugged. And they cried again. And then there were the dogs. Lots of dogs. Alabamas and Labradors. Bull terriers and shepherds. And they also clung to us, trying to find new owners in us.
"Please don't go, please don't go." She clung to my sleeve and did not let go... She stood next to me, crying and holding my sleeve. Strongly, tenaciously, until it hurt. And she tried to snuggle up. And I was holding her box of groceries in a stupid and meaningless way and babbling something inarticulate about how we are here, we are here, WE ARE ALREADY HERE, and we will be here, and forgive us for taking so long, for being so loud, for being so painful. I promised that tomorrow we would be here again, and other battalions, look - our tanks, don't be afraid, they are ours.
She was slowly taken away. We distributed all the food and went to the base.
She will probably have the longest and most terrifying night of her life. Tonight, even though there will be no more shelling. I know for sure that she will not be able to sleep and will be waiting for tomorrow.
And we will definitely come back tomorrow. I know that for sure."