The Massacres Of Izium
Izium, Ukraine — Twenty-five minutes without interruptions and without a single frame portraying a ghostly scenario made of rubble and torn carcasses of burnt cars, taken traveling through the streets of Izium, are enough to give an infinitesimal idea of the devastation brought by the Russians in these places. In 2021, Izium boasted almost 46 thousand inhabitants. After the passage of the Russkij Mir, nothing remains but a few hundred souls wandering like ghosts among the ruins of a destroyed city.
Among those few survivors, in front of the enormous gash that opens between the incinerated interiors of two tall buildings, we meet Petro: thanking us with eyes soaked in tears for our presence, he explains to us that 144 died in that single Russian bombing people. He miraculously managed to save himself by finding himself in the basements. Pointing to the residential complex on the opposite side of the road, destroyed in the same way, so much so that not even traces of one of the collapsed buildings could be found, he adds that 53 others died there. Climbing the stairs full of rubble from those ruins, we find objects of everyday life: burned photo albums, books, clothes, shoes, and mattresses. Above one of the doors, someone drew a candle writing “пам’ятаємо” (We remember).
Beyond three enormous craters, we see one of Izium’s schools, whose external walls have been reduced to a sieve by tank and bazooka…
