Residents Sujewho were under business (their number is inactive unknown), lost contact with relatives, any were declared missing. Many were killed by fire or deficiency of medical care. Independent journalists spoke to the people of Suja, Alexey and his daughter Elena, who managed to evacuate to Kursk.
Elena, 49. I worked here at the store as a saleswoman. On the sixth day (6 August 2024), we heard that Goncharovka had been fired on, but I went to work anyway to find out what the situation was. I was walking and shaking. At the store, my superiors told me: “Elena, they all went to the Kurd district. Everything is closed, go home.” I returned and saw rockets flying over the houses — it was very frightening.
Alexey, 77 years old. On the first day, we refused to leave due to the fact that we hoped to be protected. They said it was only a fewer days on TV. We wondered whether or not to go, and we decided to stay, and I told my boy on the telephone who lives in another town. The next day there was fire and Ukrainian soldiers appeared. It was like this: I left around 7:00 in the morning to feed the chickens, we have our own farm. There were soldiers on the porch. They asked if I saw Russian soldiers. I said no. They went into the house, then went to check on another apartments. At first I didn’t pay attention to them, but then I noticed that they had blue rings on their shoulders — only then did I realize that it was Ukrainian soldiersThey're in town.
Elena. Among the first stormers to enter our flat was a guy who said he would defend us from the “Putin regime”. “Everything will be fine, don’t worry. We do not fight civilians, we do not rape women, we do not kill children like your Russian soldiers.” He said it and he cried. The situation was terrible.
Alexey. After taking the city, I couldn't get in contact with my son. There was no communication. As of August 6, we had no light, no gas, no water. We could not even effort to leave on our own: we are both disabled. We did not have our own transport, nor could we number on any help: in our block with 42 flats there were only 2 families like us. There was nothing to talk about with them either: of course no 1 walked, the roads were regularly shelled.
Lights, gas and water were not there until March 12. We ate what we had. For example, we soaked pasta in water, passed through a meat grinder, and drank cold water. At 1 point, we made a stove where we could heat the food and put wood on it — as a result, we only warmed the kitchen for months.
On January 2, we decided to go down to the basement. My wife barely walks, and during the fire we just couldn't bring her down, to shelter. Since mid-winter, for the past 2 and a half months, we have lived like this: My wife — always in the basement, my daughter and I — we go upstairs to the apartment, we cook and we go back underground. During these months the windows in our flat were broken respective times, the balcony was completely destroyed, the fire was continuous — the full flat was wide open.
“Hands up, out”
Elena. In winter, my dad and neighbour one more time repaired the broken windows. It's cold in the apartment, Mom's lying sick. You just can't stay home. And here's another raid: my father didn't make it to the corridor, the plaphone fell in the kitchen, all the windows went out again.
Alexey. All this time, stormers came to us almost all day. First they broke into the residential garages, then occupied abandoned apartments. Stealing and looting, robbing garages. They frequently went to SumThey changed, they turned. And they took presents so they wouldn't come home empty-handed. They loaded everything into cars and drove it home.
It happened to us, too. We were just in the apartment, we got up, and we heard they were breaking down the door. I knocked, asking them not to break them. They realized that individual was at home and said, "Hands up, out." They asked who was with me, I said my daughter and wife. They told them to leave, too. My daughter cried: “I will not leave, my parent is not feeling well and it will get worse.” They walked in, saw that Mom was actually lying down and went to see another apartments. They always spoke to us in Russian, and they talked to each another in Russian. They went into the flats 2 at a time.
We had to go out a lot — there were chickens and a dog to feed. You should have gone to the store, too. But who could we buy food from? The owners are gone, the locks are broken, take whatever you want. I don't think it was a robbery — we had to survive. If we met friends or neighbors on the street, we only talked about erstwhile this was over. And food and help.
During these 7 months, Ukrainian soldiers helped us, perhaps, six or 7 times, delivering grits, flour, bread, tiny things. erstwhile something came up, they were sharing with us. Well, we have received nothing from our own comrades.
Elena. I took any of the most needed food from the store where I worked. Then my conscience wouldn't let me go in there and take things, even though the door was broken. The neighbors have been helping us with food all this time. They were faster and shared what was left — oil and canned. The Ukrainian military opened agrarian warehouses and gave us food, saying, “This is not looting, we are not taking anything, all this for you, eat.”
“This is war”
Alexey. I know that all this time our people have been treated and held in boarding in Suja. A doctor came from Sum and examined the sick. Food was besides brought from Sum. We weren't reasoning of going there. It was far away, there was no way to get there: we lived close the station, and the boarding home was in the city center, we would gotta go 2 km. And where would we go, considering we have a bedridden person? I was there only erstwhile to get a pass to decision around the city.
RUSSIAN EMERGENCY MINISTERY HANDOUT / East NewsEvacuation of Suja civilians, 13 March 2025.
Elena. We didn't usually get these passes. But erstwhile they stopped my dad, they asked him to show them. My father said there was no firewood: he was just going for firewood, he was not moving downtown — he was taking a wheelbarrow and pulling respective sacks of firewood back home. The military replied that it does not matter, and next time you gotta get it, or you will “come with us”. But there were no more cases like this.
Ukrainians placed guns and tanks between houses. I saw our drones sniffing around, investigating something, and then dropping a bomb — even though the cannon they seemingly were aiming at was long gone. It would be better if they dropped any bread on us — we needed nothing else.
They evidently needed our home for something. Before the invasion, we realized that Ukrainian drones They were flying over us doing reconnaissance. Of course, they left our house, did not bomb it — possibly it was convenient to place the weapon nearby, send drones.
On March 8, a terrible thing happened. We received “fireworks”: before leaving, Ukrainian soldiers left their missiles at home — they exploded and the full 4th entrance burned down. I don't know if they left them on intent or by accident — due to the fact that they just ran away.
I don't want to sin. At the time, we were never abused. possibly there were any nuances, but nobody touched us, they were good people. They didn't beat us, they didn't scold us. They broke into apartments, garages, took cars — yes. I think they took any valuables from empty apartments. But this is war, in war, I think it always happens.
“Or it will end, or I will end up in a intellectual hospital”
Alexey. Turns out the aliens didn't hurt us, but we stopped expecting aid from our own.
Elena. I hope this is the worst thing that's always happened in our lives. But the Lord did not leave us for a day, even as drones and garages burst around us. I remember praying that he would send us rain so that the sheds in which we stored firewood would not burn during the fire — and it would rain. We ran out of sunflower oil and at that moment, a neighbour knocked on the door with the words “Elena, take some, we have left”.
Russian Defence Ministry / East Newsdemolition in Suja, 13 March 2025.
I've never been a coward. But in those months, I felt that this could not proceed — either it would end, or I would end up in a intellectual hospital. My mom and dad told me to hold on: if you get worse, what are we gonna do? I didn't have the strength anymore. I didn't give up, but I had a bit of a breakdown. There was a feeling of powerlessness that never went away. Fearful, we thought of our liberation — we know how Russian troops do it. I don't want to say anything, everyone has a job, but thank God we didn't have a terrible cleaning.
Alexey. I've seen those dirty blacks on the street like the devils of people coming out of the tube like in the movie. And then someway they knocked on the door and said they were our soldiers: another uniforms, red ribbons on their shoulders. It's like everything started very abruptly and it ended just as suddenly.
Elena. There were not many at first. Our neighbour even said, “As if they were not ours, they do not even come to say hello, nothing.” But then he was so embarrassed erstwhile he found out how much these guys managed to get to us. The soldiers approached us, asked us how long we had waited for them, apologized that it took them so long to scope the city. The neighbour heard this and cried, “It is good that we have waited for you.”
Alexey. Then we were told, “Three more days and we will release you.” On March 12 the neighbour gave us food and canned food, saying that it was not from the Ukrainians, but from ours. On the same day on the neighboring street, they began to evacuate, and then they took us — the military was walking down the street and shouted, “peace, evacuation.”
Elena. We haven't seen any active fights, no liberation. Just at any point, our people started walking the streets. At first, we were happy that all of this, life goes on. But we were not allowed to stay: they said we had to leave, and erstwhile the order was finished, we could return. I don't want to go back: the city just disappeared. And until it's rebuilt, there's no telling how long it'll be.
Alexey. I want to go back to my house. I have lived in this flat for 30 years, in Suja — 50 years. Where to go? How to start over, where, why? This is my house, it is and it will be.
