Chefs, Ukraine –
While many images of the Russian invasion of Ukraine focus on the destruction in Mariupol and the east, there are signs of devastation across the country, including around Kyiv.
“Although the towns and villages around the capital Kyiv are liberated when you drive, this is what you face – absolute devastation and destruction,” CTV News correspondent for national affairs Omar Sachedina said as he reported from the village of Kuhari, just outside the capital.
To prevent Russian forces from advancing on Kyiv, the Ukrainians blew up the bridge connecting Kukhari and the capital.
“When the Ukrainians blew up this bridge, it happened in the middle of the night. There was no light and no warning,” Sachedina said.
At the top of the ruins, where the bridge once stood, lies a blue minivan, badly damaged by the blast. Sachedina said the driver of the vehicle “did not even know it had happened. … Fortunately, he survived, but many others did not.”
Once the critical link is destroyed, Ukrainians who want to cross must go down the stairs to reach the other side.
Nikola Zvintarni does this with great pain. His leg was stabbed with shrapnel after a Russian attack, just four days after the start of the war.
And then there is 87-year-old Grigory Lukyanenko, who also makes the same trip through the shaken stairs.
“It was terrible. I was a fair child when the Germans were here during World War II. The Russians … are worse,” Lukiyanenko told Sachedina.
A moment later, he struggles to say more, collapsing under the weight of unimaginable grief.
“You quickly realize how much this war has affected the whole country, especially when you visit an area like this,” he added. “The scars of this war will continue for many years to come.”
Watch the full video with CTV National News National Affairs correspondent Omar Sachedina at the top of the article.
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