Ministry of Internal Affairs: Only a few streets in Bucha are safe, other liberated cities are still being cleared

Sunday, 3 April 2022, 21:19

Dozens of cities in the Kyiv region that have been liberated from Russian forces remain dangerous.

Source: Denys Monastyrskyi, Minister of Internal Affairs, on the joint news broadcast

Details: According to Monastyrskyi, Irpin, Hostomel, Borodyanka, Makariv, Kopyliv, Motyzhyn, and dozens of other villages and towns of the Kyiv region that have been liberated from the Russian occupiers remain dangerous.

So far, rescue workers have made their way to only some houses in Bucha. Mines have been laid in other towns and villages, both in forests that surround them, and at the entrances to houses and apartments.

Due to the fact that not all houses are currently accessible, the exact number of civilians killed is currently unknown. However, according to Monastyrskyi, it will be measured in hundreds.

Civilians who did not leave the occupied towns are now receiving water and food, and some have been taken to medical facilities in Kyiv for treatment.

Many people are now missing. Witnesses of Russian violence and those who know people who might have been kidnapped are testifying. Information about collaborators is also being reported to law enforcement.

According to Monastyrskyi: "Most of the liberated towns and villages are now controlled by the Armed Forces of Ukraine and territorial defence units; law enforcement officers are also starting to arrive there.

Today we are actively working together with Mr Pavliuk, Head of the [Kyiv] Regional Military Administration, to give those local residents who remained or returned [to the liberated cities in the Kyiv region] an opportunity to guard the houses located in the safer towns, on safer streets. Right now it’s only a couple of streets which can be accessed by the people who live there. In particular, in Bucha. Currently there is still no access to other cities.

A curfew will be in place for several days to clear the main roads from explosive objects, to check for any remaining saboteurs who might be hiding in basements somewhere, to collect the bodies of the dead. And only then, I think, in a few days, we will be in a position to talk about limited access to those cities."
Background: On 2 April, it was officially reported that the entire Kyiv region had been liberated from the Russian occupiers.