A STORY OF WAR AND SUFFERING

July, 27, 2015 The Donetsk People's Republic

On this day last year July, 27, 2014 the young mother, known as Madonna of Gorlovka, was killed together with her baby.

Here is statement made by journalist Oleg Zheliabin-Nezhinskiy, who made the photo, that broke the heart of many. Today, one year later, let's pay a tribute to all innocent people killed in a war against Donbass.

Oleg Zheliabin-Nezhinskiy, July, 29, 2014:
 
I would like to make the following statement.

I recorded a documentary in the East-Ukrainian town of Gorlovka (Horlivka) on July 27. This documentary shows, among other things, a dead body of young woman holding her dead baby, both killed by shrapnel. This particular photo, dubbed “Madonna of Gorlovka”, has been shamelessly exploited and used an innumerable number of times by supporters of both sides of the war in the South-East of Ukraine, as a proof of some criminal actions of the opposite party. My videos and photos have been repeatedly posted (and re-posted over and over again) in the social media, with many inappropriate descriptions, with important details being confused and twisted in all possible ways. Moreover, many people, who shared those photos, did not bother to mention the date and the place where the photos were taken, or who took them and under which circumstances.

I would like to clarify the events behind those heartbreaking photos to all of you. I went to Gorlovka (Horlivka) as a freelance journalist, without any order or affiliation to any organization, on my own money, at my own risk. It was my decision, that of a citizen and of a man, I just could not sit at home, on the sideline of the conflict, and watch the brutality that was going on in my country. That day in Gorlovka, as soon as I got off at the central train station, I was detained. My passport, money, phones, watches, other possessions were taken away by the people who were questioning me (upon release I got some stuff back, but not all, to be honest). I was detained for ten hours without any water or food, in handcuffs, tightened so hard that I still have a feeling of numbness in my hands. I spent ten long hours waiting and fearing that I would get shot and get lost for my family and friends, forever. If anyone has a reason to hate, that's certainly me. But despite all that, with my teeth clenched when they let me go, I continued to do what I came for - neither to blame anyone nor to point fingers, but to show the truth about the lives of the ordinary people, our Ukrainian citizens, in the war zone.

And here is what I saw. I saw those gray, weary faces of people. I saw a closed railway station and an empty parking lot. I instantly knew that there was no escape from Gorlovka. It was practically impossible to leave, even if you had a child. As a matter of fact, the locals were not in a hurry to go or to flee anywhere ... Where to flee? These local people had spent all their lives in this small town. There they had their soul, their work, their friends and family. On that day I did not see any evacuation or mass departure... Now, after my return to Kiev, I often hear people say: 'the moles are themselves to blame, those who have not left'. God will make you understand when the war reaches your doorstep. But for God's sake, I don't want this to be repeated...

Those four days that I spent in Gorlovka, I will remember them forever as time of complete hopelessness. But at the same time, those were four days filled with the enormous humanity and kindness. Of course, I will never forget a gun, pointed to my head. Until the day I die, however, I will be grateful to numerous local people who helped me, although a stranger, almost alien to them. To that lady in the hotel. When I ran out of my money, she just said: 'Forget about money and stay here as long as you need'. To that guy who came from a nearby village, to find out about my conditions, and to give me some money and food. Not even knowing me personally, risking his life, having heard about me some vague word of mouth from some strangers, this guy came to my rescue. I am grateful to many other people, amazing and absolutely wonderful , who just stopped by and showed me where the shelters are, or where to flee during fire...

I am asking for your understanding. I and many other ordinary and peaceful residents and workers of Gorlovka. We could not care less on that day, who was shelling us, be it the “Ukrainian army”, the “pro-Russian rebels” or anyone else. It absolutely did not matter then, and I don’t give a damn now, who it was. All bombs are made to kill. And today, as I watch the people, who demonstrate these heartbreaking photos to each other and exploit them in search of the parties to blame, or in order to prove their side of the story, I feel very sad.

After all, it does not matter so much who started it first, or who did the shelling. The point is that no one is allowed to practise the chaotic, 'not aimed', shelling of our towns and cities. No one is allowed to conduct an aimless, 'hit or miss' military operation, that kills children, their mothers, fathers, grandfathers, grandmothers. No one is allowed to practise the killing of those, who are not soldiers, who are unarmed and pose no threat.

I uploaded this horrific photo, and now I am writing down my memories. I am doing it not in order to break your hearts but to wake up the best in you. I am asking you not to be silent and indifferent. Believe me, God forbid you to see and feel what I saw and felt that day in the city park of Gorlovka. God forbid you to see your baby torn apart by some bombs fallen in that courtyard, where you used to walk. Pointlessly, mindlessly, cynically.

Even now, when I close my eyes, I see that young woman, still just a girl, who just had become a mother. And here she lies, all torn to pieces, holding in the last effort the most valuable possession, her dead child. I still hear that loud screaming, in fact, an inhuman cry. It stayed in my ears for hours, that scream of that elderly woman in old worn-out dress. I still remember clearly, how bewildered and absurd she was, with a piece of the window frame in her hands, looking at the hole in the building, at the spot where her home used to be. What for?

You know, I had a chance to meet some ordinary rank-and-file fighters, both from the “Ukrainian army” and from the “pro-Russian rebels”. I talked to those fighters, and I can say for sure: none of them, even in the worst nightmare, could ever imagine shooting at a child. To all of them, without any doubt, it's an act of gruesome cruelty and callousness. I haven’t met with a single fighter who could pull the trigger staring at the wide-open naive eyes of a child.

Someone, however, is giving the orders and setting up the goals. Someone somewhere considers the "collateral civilian casualties" as acceptable and unavoidable. Whoever are in charge, we must reach out to them, let them know that we, just some ordinary people, want to end the killing of the innocent. Fighters must fight with the fighters, tanks must fire on the enemies, but not civilians, and the rockets should fly to the precisely defined military targets. We, ordinary people of Ukraine, should unite in making the practice of chaotic shelling of the residential areas - our villages, towns and cities, - not allowed, unacceptable, taboo. We must condemn the killing of the innocent people, that have nothing to do with the war.

Since that tragedy in Gorlovka, none of TV channels, neither Ukrainian nor Russian, contacted me for an interview or a brief comment. It looks like they did not find anything important in the events that I had witnessed - a child, killed in the city park, or a rocket, hitting the hospital. For mainstream media it's much more entertaining to interview some generals, who calmly, without emotion, discuss some strategic goals.

People, please, wake up! You will easily get rid of the memories of the military victories and defeats, once the war is over. But for the rest of your life you will not be able to forget the relatives, friends, neighbors, who were killed, torn apart, badly wounded.

I am asking everyone, who is not indifferent to the fate of the civilians, our own citizens. I am asking all who do not want to suffer from the flying bombs over their cities, streets, houses, please, unite. Let's ask, beg, scream, search for compromises, negotiate to make all belligerents to cease the practice of the chaotic shelling of the residential areas, especially, by heavy artillery, such as "GRAD".

When I get a chance, I will go back to Gorlovka once again to make another documentary and expose the horror and inhumanity of "GRAD" and other heavy weapons. At my own risk, on the cost of my own savings, I'll definitely do it. People, please, don't be silent. Try to live in the skin of those who are having their houses shelled. Please do not stay indifferent. After all, keep in mind that "GRAD" may turn around and fire in your direction.

https://www.facebook.com/oleg.zheliabin/posts/782574645120836

Source: Truth about situation in Ukraine 28-07-2015