A cemetery worker took a rest from digging fresh graves in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, as Ukrainians mourned the mounting death toll of Russia’s assault with prayers, flowers and toys left in memory of the dead.
One 75-year-old woman, Tetyana Gramushnyak, was killed by shelling while cooking outside her home in Bucha. Her body was lowered into a grave Thursday inside a purple casket topped with a cross.
Elsewhere in Bucha, sunlight cast an eerie red glow over the darkened bedroom and vacant expression of Nadiya Trubchaninova, 70, who cradled a portrait of her sons. Oleg and Vadym Trubchaninov, aged 46 and 48, were killed by Russian soldiers in Bucha, where officials say over 400 bodies have been found and the toll could rise as minesweepers comb the area.
In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, armed servicemen in combat gear detained a man suspected to be a Russian collaborator inside a residential building. A woman opened her door with a look of terror on her face, as she saw the helmeted, armed figures holding shields in the hallway. Inside one apartment, a serviceman took a moment to play with a large tabby cat lounging on a carpet.
At the railway station in Kramatorsk, where more than 50 people were killed and dozens more wounded earlier this month, blossoms and playthings adorned a fence in memory of the dead. A Russian missile strike had hit the station as it was crowded mostly with women and children trying to flee.
