Ukrainian president visits Yahidne village in Chernihiv region

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday visited the village of Yahidne in the country’s northern Chernihiv region.

“Together with Vice Chancellor, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck and Secretary General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejcinovic Buric, we saw the consequences of the occupation of the village of Yahidne by Russian troops,” Zelenskyy said in a message on Telegram.

He noted that during the visit, they went to the secondary school of the village, where, he said, 367 Ukrainians were kept by Russian forces in “unsanitary conditions.”

“The residents of Yahidne lived through terrible ordeals. They were kept in the basement for 27 days. They survived standing and sitting. 11 people died, unfortunately. And all these people somehow lived in the dark and were waiting for Ukraine to return,” Zelenskyy said.

He later addressed those living in the village, thanking local residents and the authorities, who fought for their lives every day during Russia’s control of the region in the early stage of the Moscow-Kyiv war.

According to a statement by the Ukrainian presidency, all 173 settlements in the village were damaged by the conflict, with 18 buildings fully destroyed.

“In addition, the objects of communal property were destroyed - a cultural center and a first aid station. The school building was heavily damaged,” the statement said.

A later statement by the Ukrainian presidency said Zelenskyy also visited a military hospital in the region, along with Habeck and Pejcinovic Buric, where he presented state awards to Ukrainian soldiers undergoing medical treatment, as well as to the medics working in the hospital.​​​​​​​