Cleaning up the chaos Charred houses, ruined lawns, broken bridges and unexploded bombs
The Guardian Weekly|April 22, 2022
Galina Muzyra moved around her front garden as she cleaned up the mess left by occupying Russian soldiers.
Luke Harding
Cleaning up the chaos Charred houses, ruined lawns, broken bridges and unexploded bombs

The trail of destruction on the road from

“They parked two armoured vehicles on my lawn,” she said, pointing to a flattened blue fence next to her neat vegetable patch. Nearby was a large crater. Her yellow-painted dacha was perforated with holes.

Shrapnel had wrecked the wooden summer house, too. It was a birthday gift from her late husband, Nikolai, Muzyra explained. “We don't understand why the Russians did this. We are a small, quiet country. If it wasn't for our president, I don't know what we would do," she added, throwing splintered branches and other rubbish on to a spring bonfire.

Muzyra and her son, Denis, live in Zalissya, a village on the highway between the capital Kyiv and the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv. For 20 days, between 8 and 28 March, Russian troops took over her home, sleeping on top of her kitchen stove. The property survived better than many others. The house next door is a charred, roofless shell.

Across swathes of territory vacated by Russia's armed forces a great cleanup was underway. Homeowners were tidying up and counting the cost of a devastating month-long occupation. Ukrainian army sappers collected left-behind munitions and defused mines - a vast ongoing job.

This story is from the April 22, 2022 edition of The Guardian Weekly.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the April 22, 2022 edition of The Guardian Weekly.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM THE GUARDIAN WEEKLYView All
No 298 Bean, cabbage and coconut-milk soup
The Guardian Weekly

No 298 Bean, cabbage and coconut-milk soup

Deep, sweet heat. A soup that soothes and invigorates simultaneously.

time-read
1 min  |
January 03, 2025
Cottage cheese goes viral: in reluctant praise of a food trend
The Guardian Weekly

Cottage cheese goes viral: in reluctant praise of a food trend

I was asked recently which food trends I think will take over in 2025.

time-read
2 mins  |
January 03, 2025
I'm worried that my teenage son is in a toxic relationship
The Guardian Weekly

I'm worried that my teenage son is in a toxic relationship

A year ago, our almost 18-year-old son began seeing a girl, who is a year older than him and is his first \"real\" girlfriend.

time-read
3 mins  |
January 03, 2025
BOOKS OF THE MONTH
The Guardian Weekly

BOOKS OF THE MONTH

A roundup of the best recent science fiction, fantasy and horror

time-read
2 mins  |
January 03, 2025
Dying words
The Guardian Weekly

Dying words

The Nobel prize winner explores the moment of death and beyond in a probing tale of a fisher living in near solitude

time-read
2 mins  |
January 03, 2025
Origin story
The Guardian Weekly

Origin story

We homo sapiens evolved and succeeded when other hominins didn't-but now our expansionist drive is threatening the planet

time-read
3 mins  |
January 03, 2025
Glad rags to riches
The Guardian Weekly

Glad rags to riches

Sarcastic, self-aware and surprisingly sad, the first volume of Cher's extraordinary memoir mixes hard times with the high life

time-read
3 mins  |
January 03, 2025
Sail of the century
The Guardian Weekly

Sail of the century

Anenigmatic nautical radio bulletin first broadcast 100 years ago, the Shipping Forecast has beguiled and inspired poets, pop stars and listeners worldwide

time-read
5 mins  |
January 03, 2025
How does it feel?
The Guardian Weekly

How does it feel?

A Complete Unknown retells Bob Dylan's explosive rise, but it als resonates with today's toxic fame and politics. The creative team expl their process-and wha the singer made of it all

time-read
7 mins  |
January 03, 2025
The Guardian Weekly

Jane Austen's enduring legacy lies in her relevance as a foil for modern mores

For some, it will be enough merely to re-read Persuasion, and thence to cry yet again at Captain Wentworth's declaration of utmost love for Anne Elliot.

time-read
2 mins  |
January 03, 2025