When Ukrainian forces regained control of Katyuzhanka, a village in northern Kyiv that had been under Russian occupation for more than a month in March, they found the local school destroyed. Any equipment that had not been stolen was destroyed, there was a makeshift cemetery in the schoolyard, and deep trenches were dug in the football field.
Inside one of the destroyed classrooms, written in chalk on a large green blackboard hanging on the wall just below a portrait of Isaac Newton, was a letter addressed to the students and signed “the Russians.”
It read: “Children, we apologize for such a mess, we tried to save the school, but there were bombings. Live in peace, take care of yourself and don’t repeat the mistakes your elders made. Ukraine and Russia are one people!!! Peace be with you, brothers and sisters!”.
The note, written in Russian as opposed to Ukrainian – the school’s language of instruction, was one of several left on blackboards and whiteboards scattered around the building. “We are for peace all over the world,” said another.
CNN cannot independently verify who wrote the notes.
Mikola Mikitchik, principal of Katyuzhanka High School, told CNN last month that he was disgusted when he found the grades.
“They wrote ‘Russians and Ukrainians are brothers’ and at the same time they robbed the school… they ruined computers, took away hard drives, took laptops, printers, left nothing at the school! It’s barbarism and hypocrisy,” he said.
Source: CNN Brasil
