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Eight Pskov paratroopers in Bucha

In Bucha, they found the phone number of a local resident who survived the mass shooting. The occupiers called home from this phone. We found them

At the beginning of June in Bucha, a resident of one of the houses on Yablonskaya Street, which is known as the “alley of corpses,” found someone else’s mobile phone, which could have been left behind by the Russian military. During the occupation they lived in her house.

As Important Stories was able to find out, this phone belonged to the only survivor of the mass shooting on March 4 - 43-year-old builder Ivan Skiba. On the day the Russian military killed at least eight residents of Bucha, they were calling their loved ones home from Skiba's phone.

We talked to Skiba about what the Russian occupiers did in Bucha and how he managed to survive. They also found eight Pskov paratroopers who most likely called from his phone.

“Fuck them, just take them somewhere so they don’t lie around here.”

The Russian military first tried to enter Bucha on February 27, but, having met resistance and suffered significant losses, retreated. The Russians continued their offensive on March 3. “On this day, I was in territorial defense at a checkpoint in Bucha, helping to organize the evacuation of civilians,” Ivan Skiba reconstructs the events of those days in a conversation with “Important Stories.” “We heard on the radio that [Russian] equipment had entered the city and they shot up a house in front of the checkpoint.” The men, all mostly from the Terrestrial Defense Forces, who were at the checkpoint with Skiba, hid in house 31 on Yablonska Street. In total, there were nine men in the house, including the owner of the house.

They spent the night in the house, the next day, March 4, at about 11 am, three Russian soldiers broke down the door and took everyone outside. “They stripped us all and looked for tattoos,” says Ivan. “They shouted: ‘You are Bandera’s!’” Then the military took away everyone’s phones.

The men were forced to line up one after another, grab the jacket of the person in front, and, at gunpoint, they were led to house 144 on the same Yablonskaya Street - a four-story office building where the Russian occupiers set up their headquarters.

The detainees were lined up and driven to the headquarters

There the men were forced to take off their boots and jackets. They made them kneel, some had their hands tied. One of the detainees, 28-year-old Vitaly Karpenko, was shot dead immediately - Ivan Skiba saw this. Skiba and another man, Andrei Verbovoy, were taken into the building, Ivana was put a bucket on his head, and they began to hit it with a rifle butt and a brick. Skiba guesses what happened to Verbov: he no longer heard his voice; most likely he was killed.

“After that, they took me out again, made me kneel,” recalls Skiba, who was returned to the detainees. “The military were deciding among themselves what to do with us, one said: ‘Fuck them, just take them [somewhere] so they don’t lie around here.’” One of the prisoners was released because, as Skiba says, he was “coward-hearted” and admitted that he was a member of the terrorist defense. Now he is under investigation, the Ukrainian authorities accuse him of treason.

The remaining men were led around the corner of the house; Skiba recalls that there were two military men, they looked very young. Then the men were placed facing the wall and shooting began. Skiba remembers the words of one military man: “Everyone is fucked, you fucking Banderaites!” The bullet passed tangentially, hitting Ivan’s side, and he collapsed to the ground. “They finished shooting, finishing off those who showed any signs of life.” Skiba fell next to the dead man, who was already lying on the ground before they arrived: “I tried not to breathe, only steam came out of my mouth.”

The men were taken around the corner of the house and shot (this photo was taken almost a month later, on April 3)

When everything calmed down and the soldiers left, Ivan was able to free his hands, which were wrapped in tape. “I had no shoes, so I took the shoes off the dead guy who was lying there before us.” In the terrible photograph taken by journalists after the Russians left Bucha, there are seven bodies.

Skiba ran from the scene of the execution, climbed over three fences and ended up in a private house, which had already been visited by the occupiers. Everything in the house was turned upside down. He found a jacket, a hat and alcohol and was able to treat the wounds.

For 10–20 minutes, Ivan lay down on the sofa, trying to warm up, but this was prevented by the military, who again burst into the house. “I said that I am the owner of the house, the family evacuated. My face was bleeding, he said something had arrived.”

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The military again took Ivan to the headquarters in the 144th building, where he was given medical assistance, and then led to a bunker where about 200 civilians were hiding from shelling.

On March 7, the Russian military took everyone outside. The women and children were released first. Then men. “They told us: “We have come to free you!” Something like: we are cool guys, don’t take up arms, we’ll let you go. I think they needed the bunker themselves to hide from shelling,” says Skiba.

Ivan went to the house where his wife and children were hiding in the basement. The whole family managed to evacuate first to Kyiv, then to Lvov. In Lvov, Ivan was given a document stating that he was not fit for military service and that rehabilitation was recommended. So he was released abroad.

Now Ivan Skiba is in Poland: he, like other Ukrainian refugees, was sheltered in his house by a Polish pensioner with Ukrainian roots, Wojciech Okoinsky. “I’m currently undergoing rehabilitation,” says Skiba. “I’m fixing my teeth, they kicked me in the teeth, knocked some out.”

“Kolyan, this is Lekha. Alive and healthy"

On March 4, calls were made to three dozen Russian numbers from Ivan Skiba’s seized or, more simply put, stolen phone. The list of calls was published by the Bucha Live telegram channel.

We managed to establish that Pskov paratroopers called Russia from Skiba’s phone, some to several numbers at once. This is not the first evidence that military personnel from Pskov military units 32 515 and 74 268, that is, from the 104th and 234th air assault regiments, may be involved in crimes in Bucha. The New York Times wrote about this, citing data provided by the Security Service of Ukraine. Reuters also published evidence of the presence of Pskov paratroopers in Bucha.

“Important Stories” found eight servicemen from Pskov who most likely used a stolen phone to call home. At least three of them are no longer alive.

How we searched

On June 9, the Bucha Live telegram channel published seven photos of the phone screen found by a resident of Bucha. The telegram channel message stated that the phone belonged to “our man, who was held captive and tortured by the orcs.”

Through the administrators of the telegram channel, we asked him to tell the owner of the phone that we would like to communicate with him. On June 16, Ivan Skiba contacted the editors, who confirmed that the phone found on Yablonskaya Street, 138 (not far from house 144, where the Russian military headquarters was located), belongs to him. He told how, through social networks, in which he was logged in from a smartphone, his daughter was contacted and reported about the discovery of the phone.

We studied three dozen outgoing calls from a Vodafone UA SIM card to Russian numbers. We checked each number using open data: through various search engines and social networks, as well as through applications showing how the contact was recorded by different users. We verified the results through databases of published leaks, which made it possible to establish the place of work or service of the people who came into our field of vision. At the last stage, we called the same Russian numbers that we called from Ivan Skiba’s phone, as well as the servicemen who visited Bucha themselves, to find out from them the details of what happened.

In some cases, we received direct confirmation that it was this person who called; in others, this is the most plausible assumption that explains all the facts found.

Alexey Vishnevsky

On March 4 at 16:41 an SMS message was sent from Ivan Skiba’s phone: “Kolyan, this is Lekha. alive and well, write to Alina” ( hereinafter we preserve the peculiarities of speech. - Ed. ). The addressee of the message was Nikolai Olesov, a sergeant, deputy platoon commander from Pskov (judging by how it was recorded in other people’s phones). Apparently, “Lekha” didn’t get through to Alina himself.

Among the calls we found an outgoing call to the number of Alina Vishnevskaya, a manicurist from Pskov. From her social networks it is clear that she is married to “Lekha” - 26-year-old Alexey Vishnevsky. On the avatars in Alina’s profiles and in one of Alexey’s profiles, in which he calls himself Arkady Korneev, young people kiss.

Vishnevsky’s place of work is listed as the 234th Airborne Assault Regiment (military unit 74 268). Alexey has been serving since at least 2016; he has served as an anti-tank gun commander, deputy platoon commander, and reconnaissance officer.

Over the phone, Alina Vishnevskaya told the “Important Stories” correspondent that it was impossible to reach Alexey by phone now: “He has not returned yet.” He sometimes gets in touch, but there is no information about when he will be able to return home.

Ilya Saburov

20-year-old Ilya Saburov called his mother, Anna Saburova, from her phone. On Saburov’s page on VKontakte, under one of the photographs published in November 2021 for the first time in a long time, friends ask him: “Have you served?”, “Where are you, are you fucked?” Ilya replies that “one more year.”

Judging by his YouTube profile , Ilya likes to review the GTA computer game; his channel has more than four thousand subscribers. A year ago, in the channel’s community, he wrote: “Tomorrow I’ll launch a stream via phone MB guys, I’m in the army and you write so that I can leak the builds).” The last video was published on June 4, 2021. Judging by the comments, Ilya posted it during his two-week vacation. Five months ago, Ivan wrote again in the community: “Sometimes I want to go back and make normal videos and not like before, but there’s no way because of the army. Forgive me for abandoning the channel and letting everyone down. I’ll be back on YouTube in half a year in a new format.”

Ilya’s mother responded to a message from the “Important Stories” correspondent on WhatsApp as follows.

“It seems to me that only the lazy didn’t write about this turmoil)))

Everyone has already figured it out

And depending on which version you are interested in, Zelensky has already come up with everything about this, what and how it happened

And if a person has a head on his shoulders and common sense, then can one believe this horror about Russian soldiers, they don’t even mock prisoners, let alone civilians)))

It would be better if you figured out who is cutting the throats of our prisoners on the road and shooting them and conveying this information to the Red Cross and how they are holding those whom the Ukrofashists did not kill)))

You, as a journalist, would do a good job.”

Maxim Grushevsky

Maxim Grushevsky also called his mother, Natalya. Maxim took the oath of office in December 2021 - his mother posted a photo of her son in a paratrooper uniform on social networks. In the comments, Natalya’s friend asks where her “already grown-up son” is serving, Natalya replies that in Pskov.

While her son is fighting in Ukraine, his mother takes photographs of her youngest daughter, Maxim’s sister, in front of a toy car with the letter Z.

Natalya did not answer the call from the “Important Stories” correspondent.

Radium Zaburin

Radiy Zaburin called his wife, Daria Zaburina, an eyebrow artist from Pskov. Radium's path to the military world was not easy. In 2013, 17-year-old Zaburin was involved in a criminal case - he was detained with 96 grams of marijuana. Then he joined the army. Judging by the photographs of one of his colleagues on VKontakte, Radium began serving in the airborne forces no later than 2015. In 2016, he was already the senior gunner of the 234th Airborne Assault Regiment with a salary of 25 thousand rubles.

Perhaps Radium had money problems: since 2019, for almost 11 months he has been trying to sell a “unloading vest in good condition.” Radiy married his wife Daria a year ago: in photographs from his wife’s page on VKontakte, he is posing with his bride in a blue suit and red tie.

We called Daria Zaburina at the number that is on Skiba’s outgoing phone list. Daria decided to deny everything: “no one called, you’re mistaken, they never called me from Ukraine,” her husband was never in the military, he works “in civilian life,” he is a builder, he never went to Ukraine, “he’s always there.” After our call, Daria closed her page on VKontakte.

Mikhail Guryanov

Mikhail Guryanov called his uncle, Vasily Shevchenko. On my uncle’s page there is a photo of Mikhail in a paratrooper’s uniform with the caption “Nephew, Misha!!!” In August 2020, Mikhail’s mother, Olga, posted a family photo on her VKontakte page in which relatives hug Misha, with the caption “Son in the army.” Until 2020, he worked as a laborer and freight forwarder.

Mikhail’s own VKontakte page is closed; his avatar features a muscular bear against a tricolor background. Not long ago, he changed his real name on a social network to “Shevchenko.” However, on Odnoklassniki, Mikhail actively continues to use his real name; the last time he visited the page was on June 16.

When “Important Stories” called, Guryanov’s uncle, Vasily, replied that “he couldn’t help, it’s a military secret.”

Danil Konovalov (deceased)

On March 4, Danil Konovalov called his parents, Sergei and Nadezhda Konovalov.

In photographs in Odnoklassniki of his father in September 2021, a cheerful Danil poses with a parachute, his chevrons are visible, indicating that he served in the landing force.

Under later photographs, condolences are expressed to Danila’s father. On her VKontakte page, his younger sister Sofia posted a photo of a video call with her brother on May 30 with the caption “Mine. The only one, dear,” they also express condolences to her in the comments.

Danila’s photo was also put on his avatar on May 29 by his friend, Dmitry Marchenko.

On June 14, Danila’s death was officially announced: in the public page “ 76 Guards Airborne Division Pskov ZOV ” they wrote that the young man “died the death of the brave” “on May 21, 2022 in the zone of a special military operation in the territory of the former Ukraine during an assault on the positions of neo-Nazi formations near the village of Lipovoe.” “A native of the Altai Territory, Guard Private Danil Sergeevich Konovalov took part in a special military operation to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine since February 24. A true friend and comrade who always came to the rescue in difficult times. He was 20 years old." This message was reposted by Valeria Nikulina, close to Danila, whom Konovalov also called on March 4 from Ivan Skiba’s phone.

We reached Danil's parents. “He himself told us that he was in Bucha when they left there on March 30,” answered Danil’s mother, Nadezhda. According to the parents, Danil’s brigade was first taken to Belarus, then sent to the Belgorod region, where they spent two weeks. Immediately after this, Danil was sent to fight in the Donetsk region, where he died. “At first he said: “I won’t go,” and then: “No, I will go, I can’t feel like a refusenik, I want to avenge the commander and all my friends,” Nadezhda recounts the conversation with her son. “They were all tired there during this time,” says Father Sergei. The military registration and enlistment office and the local administration came to them to inform them about the death of their son. The Konovalovs helped pay for the funeral. “Since childhood, he dreamed of serving in the Airborne Forces,” says Sergei Konovalov. “They didn’t know that all this would happen [when he signed the contract].”

Alexander Popov (deceased)

On March 4, 20-year-old Alexander Popov called his mother, Irina Kiriyenko, in Krasnoyarsk.

On November 25, 2021, Irina posted a photo of her eldest son on the square of three train stations in Moscow, and in the comments she wrote: “He has already arrived in Pskov, he’s going to the unit.” At the very beginning of the war, a woman liked a post dated March 3, when her son most likely entered Bucha: “Let's support our guys who are now making history by protecting the civilian population of Donbass and Ukraine from the Nazis.”

And on May 31 of this year, Irina again published several photographs of her son with the caption “It’s so easy to imagine you alive that it’s impossible to believe in your death.” To condolences from her friends, Irina replies: “I’m holding on, I still have a little one. We can handle it." Judging by the photographs, the youngest son Ilya is a cadet-sailor.

According to media reports , Alexander Popov died on May 19. He served in Pskov under a contract. “He held the position of “gunner-operator of a parachute company.” I dreamed of becoming a paratrooper, conquering the skies, jumping with a parachute,” journalists report the words of Alexander’s younger brother, Ilya.

When Sasha’s corpse was brought home, the person accompanying the body said that the Russian military was chased “like rabbits through the forests.”

The correspondent of “Important Stories” got through to Alexander’s mother and aunt. They said that Sasha contacted them on March 7 and 31, saying that he took the phone from a local resident in a store - he lost his phone “in the first battle, it drowned in a tank.” “Yes, of course, he understood where he was being sent,” says Sasha’s aunt. “In a text message, a video, he wrote to me: ‘Mom, we are going to die!’ “These are the penultimate, his last messages, but such correspondence began already at the beginning of April,” my mother shares. “Apparently he had a premonition.” Sasha told his mother that “the Nazis take civilians out of populated areas and hide behind them”: “I asked: “Sasha, do you have a finger on the trigger to shoot?”, He said: “Yes.”

The women recall that Alexander’s brigade stopped near Donetsk, in the village of Trypillya. From there they literally did not reach their own two kilometers when they were attacked. After Sasha’s death, both women don’t want to know anything about the war in Ukraine, “to this day” they don’t watch TV: “I buried my son - I don’t want to see or hear anything else.” But the sisters agree on the position: “Wipe this fucking Ukraine off the face of the earth! They would have thrown a bomb the same way they threw it on our boys.” They say that Sasha and the other boys were thrown “like cannon fodder to the Nazis.” Less than six months have passed since Alexander’s training: “they still don’t really know how to shoot or fight.” When Sasha’s corpse was brought home, the person accompanying the body said that the Russian military was chased “like rabbits through the forests.” “We could have released elite troops instead, but we have such good weapons in Russia! Their transport was all broken, they waited and waited for spare parts to be brought to them, but when they didn’t wait, they went through some forest...” When asked who this complaint is to, Sasha’s mother says: to the president.

Dmitry Antonnikov (deceased)

Having received the phone number of the captured Ukrainian, Dmitry Antonnikov called his wife, Valeria Maksimova. We found out that Antonnikov was a soldier in military unit 74 268 with a salary of 35 thousand rubles at the beginning of 2017.

Now on his young wife Lera’s page on VKontakte there is a sad post in memory of her deceased husband: “You passed away from life, but not from your heart. My dear, I love you very much.” Publication date: June 8. In the comments, her relatives support her and write that “Dima is a hero!”

We were unable to reach Valeria by phone.

On Yablonskaya street

On March 4, when the Russian military called home from Ivan Skiba's phone, eight residents of Bucha were shot: Anatoly Prikhodko, Andrey Matviychuk, Andrey Verbovoy, Denis Rudenko, Andrey Dvornikov, Svyatoslav Turovsky, Valery Kotenko and Vitaly Karpenko. All of them were civilians before the war, but with the outbreak of the war they joined volunteer units.

Photos of the eight executed were published by The New York Times

We cannot say what role the Pskov paratroopers we found played during the occupation of Bucha. Ivan Skiba, to whom we showed photographs of the soldiers we found, finds it difficult to say who exactly took his phone and tortured him: the soldiers were wearing balaclavas, and he also lost his glasses. Let us remind you that the most brutal murders took place on Yablonskaya Street in Bucha.

We have already written about the presence of Pskov paratroopers at the scene of the execution of Bucha residents. Then we managed to identify one of those who was involved in clearing the village, Chingiz Atantayev, who also served in one of the Pskov air assault regiments.

“Important Stories” continues its investigation and will soon talk about other Russian military personnel who were in the Kyiv region during the occupation and their possible involvement in war crimes.

If you know something and want to tell us about the Russian military who participated in the war on the territory of Ukraine, please contact us by mail letter@istories.media or via a bot on Telegram @mail_to_istories_bot