Not only the front-line area, but also the entire border with Russia is dangerous now. People living in the Semenivka community (the Chernihiv region) also live under constant fire. The villages of this community in the Novgorod – Siversky district, which has the longest border with the enemy in the region – 138 kilometers –, are always mentioned in the daily official reports on enemy shelling.
Russians kill people, destroy houses, farms and equipment. They attack the city and nearby settlements with cannon artillery, Grads, mortars, Shaheds, strike with unguided aerial bombs and missiles.
For over two years of the all-out war, most of the villages in the community with the status of “territory of possible hostilities” have become almost deserted, and some have become wasteland, a “gray zone”…
All roads lead to Serhiy Dedenko
After last year’s hostile missile strikes and drone attacks on the Semenivka Town Council, its staff works in other premises or remotely for security reasons. But we talk to the head of the community, Serhiy Dedenko, in his office on the first floor of the half-ruined building. On the night of August 23, 2023, just before National Flag Day, a kamikaze drone hit the building. The staff dismantled the debris, covered the windows, and made a temporary roof on their own. Reconstruction requires a lot of money and, as they say, it isn’t the right time.
Serhiy Ivanovych says he is more comfortable in this office, because in February-March 2022, he “managed the community, worked, lived and slept here.” People also go there out of habit.
On the way to this northernmost Ukrainian town, the passengers of the Semenivka – Masheve bus asked me with curiosity and anxiety if I wasn’t afraid to go here, and what made me do it. So, the first thing I asked Serhiy Dedenko was whether he was afraid to live and work under regular enemy shelling in the town close to the border with the Russian Federation? Straight through the forests, it is about 12 kilometers from the border to Semenivka, and the outermost village houses are at a distance of only 100 – 500 meters. On February 24, 2022, at 4:30 a.m., the town council head was already at his workplace. Closer to six, he heard the first volleys of Grads, and an hour later Russian military convoys moved through the town. From then on, the office became like a second home, where the community head lived through the “quiet occupation” (Semenivka was cut off from the regional center like an island), and after the enemy troops fled, the community suffers continuous Russian terror. I look up at the mangled ceiling with fear, afraid that something may fall off and hit my head. My interviewee, smiling, assures that “everything that could fall off has already fallen off.”
“Since the first day of the war, I’ve never left the town, except on business. My deputies and I visit our residents so as not to expose them to danger. Our people have developed some rules and skills that can save lives. The first such skill is to react to what is happening around. Even if you are walking in the park, you should be careful,” the head shares his impressions and emotions. “This caution sometimes has a reverse side. Once I was at a forum in Chernivtsi. I was walking in the park. Suddenly a swing made a loud noise. All the people around were standing, and I was already lying on the ground. But what is strange in Chernivtsi is normal in Semenivka. Recently, there was a downpour, and my secretary and I fell to the floor when the thunder rolled and waited for a strike. Only then did we realize that it was a thunderstorm. Such behavior and reaction are normal in our community.”
Another skill of the townspeople is to wear comfortable clothes and shoes so that they can run and jump quickly. It has repeatedly saved people’s lives. The head also had to jump over the fence to escape the shelling. So, no suits at work. Jeans and sneakers are practical and comfortable.
“One day my colleagues didn’t want to go down to the shelter during an alarm. I demand this from all my subordinates. So I asked why they didn’t go. They said: “We don’t want to, because we’re so beautiful today.” And I say: “Okay, we’ll write on your tombstones: “They were very beautiful and on high heels.” It is black humor, but we can’t do without it now,” Serhiy Ivanovych says.
And death is not the strongest argument
According to Serhii Dedenko, 16 civilians have been killed in the community since the full-scale war began (three of them in Semenivka).
“We recommend not walking around the town without an urgent need, because it is on the streets that people die of shrapnel wounds. Shelling starts suddenly, at any hour of the day. Actually, people have learned to recognize what, where from and where to is flying. However, there is no time to prepare for Grad, mortar or artillery fire. Besides, when artillery shells fly, there is no air raid alert, and no air defense system can stop their flight,” Serhiy says.
On June 14, 2024, 56-year-old Natalia Pustovoit died in Yanzhulivka, 100 meters from the border with the enemy. She was the first civilian victim of the Russian military in this village. She enjoyed life (sang, danced, took part in amateur performances, dreamed of grandchildren with her husband), a skilled housewife, a loving mother and wife. That morning, the woman was helping a relative to weed pumpkins in the garden. When the shelling began, the relative hid in the cellar, and Natalia returned home. Everything seemed to have calmed down, and she decided to collect the chickens and went out into the yard. Suddenly, a shell hit, piercing the wall of the house and breaking the fence. When her husband ran out of the house, Natalia was already lying on the ground with a broken head.
On August 21, 2023, carpenter Eduard Zhmurko, an ATO participant (he was a tankman of the 72nd Black Zaporozhian Brigade) died. His family moved from Yanzhulivka to Semenivka, but they left their belongings, appliances, and a planted garden at home. So Eduard periodically visited the homestead. He was riding a bike on a country road when the Russians dropped an explosive device from a quadcopter. It fell a meter away from Eduard and exploded. Shrapnel hit him in the stomach and leg. A 27-year-old man died from his injuries.
At the end of 2023, Russians killed 32-year-old Oleh Hruzky outside his home. The enemy was shelling the town with Grads. Oleh went out to the car – he planned to take New Year’s gifts to his two-year-old son, who lives with his mother in a village in the neighboring district. He was killed near the car.
On April 9, 2024, Svitlana Zenchenko, a music teacher at a children’s music school, died as a result of Russian shelling of the center of Semenivka. She didn’t hide in a shelter, like her colleagues, but decided to ride a bicycle home. But she didn’t manage to do it: a shell exploded three meters from her. The teacher’s death shocked the townspeople, because Svitlana Oleksandrivna had taught a few generations of children, inspired them to love music, believe in themselves and their abilities. Her students participated in regional and national competitions, received winners’ diplomas and grand prix. She often performed on stage together with her students as part of an orchestra of folk instruments and a choir. “A professional and responsible teacher, a beautiful and kind-hearted woman, an active, always positive, caring mother of two sons”, I read online condolences to the family.
On May 28, 2024, 47-year-old Oleksiy Vysotsky from Zaliznyi Mist was also killed by shrapnel from Russian shells. The shell fell near Oleksiy’s house. Debris pierced the wall of the house and hit him in the head. Zaliznyi Mist is regularly bombarded with mortars, drones and cannon artillery. During his life, the man worked as a herdsman at a local agricultural enterprise.
People die from shrapnel wounds during shelling, step on landmines, but even a neighbor’s death does not become an argument for leaving.
Also, enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups enter the territory of the Semenivka community, because there is a forest all around.
In July 2023, the chief engineer of the Stepanych agricultural company Mykola Horyslavskyi was killed by an SRG on the road between Mykolayivka and Zaliznyi Mist. The Russian military shot at his car and placed 2 kg of explosives under the man’s body, apparently with the intention of killing or injuring other people as well. They also mined the roadside near the crime scene.
“Mykola left for work at about seven that day, although he usually arrived at nine. He wanted to wash his car at the tractor brigade, which is 6 kilometers from his home. Mykola used to drive five other employees from the village to work every morning. But then he went alone. Perhaps this saved their lives,” said Yuriy Senko, head of the company.
The murder of Mykola Horyslavskyi shocked me to the core, because I knew him personally. He was a professional, committed to his work and the company, a man who always rushed to help and supported his neighbors in every way possible. He was a kind, sincere and compassionate man. His enemies brutally, viciously and treacherously ended his life at the age of 51.
People in Semenivka told me that they wouldn’t die twice, so they were ready “to be hit heavily, so as not to be crippled – without arms or legs”, because how would they cope? When a fellow villager dies, they are ready to leave (some do). But after a day or two, unfortunately, good intentions remain just that, intentions. As fatalists, people believe in fate and hope that they will be lucky.
The wounded “heart of Semenivka”
Before the enemy’s full-scale invasion, the central park was the centerpiece and pride of the town – a place of recreation, public events and sports competitions. There are monuments and memorials, the Alley of Heroes, a local history museum, cultural institutions, children’s and sports grounds, a children’s and youth sports school. There are administrative buildings and a house of culture, a children’s and youth creativity center, a library, and a music school around the area.
Last summer and fall, the enemy began to destroy the utility companies in the community and shell the town center. The town council, a local hospital, and a sports school were hit. And this spring, the house of culture, which housed a volunteer center and charitable organizations, suffered extensive damage from missile attacks. The buildings are riddled with shrapnel, gaping with broken windows. Anxiety and fear are firmly rooted in people’s minds: they live like on a powder keg not knowing what, when and where will come.
The enemy uses scorched earth tactics and terror against the local population. Villages become unlivable. Shelling is constant, unexpected and of varying duration. Demonstration attacks – with cannon artillery, mortars, Grads – even before the sirens are turned on. Recently, they dropped a tube with a toxic liquid from a drone. They mine the bodies of killed civilians to intimidate people and demonstrate power. They chase cars and drivers who bring bread to villages.
“I’ll be the last to leave the community”
Enemy shelling, migration (about half of the population left the town), lack of personnel (especially doctors), a difficult economic situation are the current realities of the border community. It is mostly young people and mothers with children who go to safe places.
The community lacks doctors. Two surgeons, three gynecologists, and an infectious disease specialist left last year. However, we managed to entice a surgeon with experience of working on the frontline with material benefits: the Syrian Terek Al-Khames is our first experience of attracting foreign specialists to work in a border community.
The local authorities, together with the police, explain the need for people to evacuate to a safe place. They provide all the necessary assistance for leaving (including fuel to tank up cars during evacuation, vehicles to transport people’s belongings, sometimes help with loading), facilitate the search for housing in other communities of the region. But people hold on to their homes, property, gardens and resist to the last. They believe that “no one anywhere is waiting for them with open arms.”
“We haven’t organized any mass events or concerts for a long time; we recommend not gathering on the streets. This has a negative effect on people’s mental state,” Serhiy Ivanovych says. “The center of Semenivka is deserted, because one shelter in the park cannot save everyone during shelling. But the community hasn’t fallen apart: utility workers, medicine, and local government are working. We’ve already had two offices damaged. The enemy seems to be hunting for our administrative buildings. That is why town council staff is in different locations. As the chairman, I travel between offices all day, visit my colleagues, although before the big war I might not have seen someone for months. It is very important, because limited communication is psychologically difficult for some people. I visit the hospital, which, by the way, was also shelled by artillery last year. The office of the head of the medical service was also hit. After that, she quit her job. Every day I visit both utility companies of the community (foreign donors help them with equipment). I ask the utility workers to clean even better than before the war, so that people have hope. Figuratively speaking, like a ship’s captain, I’ll stay in Semenivka until the end. And if I have to leave, I’ll be the last to leave the town.”
Despite the danger and life on a powder keg, divided into “before” and “after” the war, people believe in Victory. National flags fly on the streets of the patriotic town, flower beds bloom in the park, and you can drink aromatic coffee and talk about life in a shop with the ambitious name “Paris”. Brave paramedics from the ambulance substation go on calls (though not to all villages). Shops are open, people receive humanitarian aid, and if necessary, building materials to repair damaged homes.
Evacuation of the local population, protection of infrastructure facilities, and liquidation of the consequences of enemy attacks are the priority tasks of the head of the town council Serhiy Dedenko. Every day, he does his important work confidently, calmly and promptly (which is the main requirement of the time).
Olha Cherniakova
Photos by the author and from Serhiy Dedenko’s archive
Supported by the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine. The views of the authors do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Government.