Spokeswoman Iryna Rybakova shows photos and talks about Russian captives, trophy weapons, and local resistance.
WARNING: This material contains scenes of violence and may be sensitive to you.
The town of Okhtyrka is in the Sumy region. It is less than 30 kilometers from the Russian border, but Russian troops have not been able to occupy the town. Okhtyrka has a strategic location. If it were captured, Russian troops would have a direct route to central Ukraine, to Poltava and Myrhorod, and the south-east towards Kharkiv. This would allow them to blockade the region.
In the first days of the full-scale invasion, the Russian army shelled the city with thermobaric vacuum bombs, banned under international law, and heavy artillery. Residential areas of the city were heavily damaged, and only part of the facade of the City Hall survived.
Ukrainian army soldier, spokeswoman for the 93rd Kholodnyi Yar brigade, and photographer Iryna Rybakova was in Okhtyrka on the third day of the full-scale Russian invasion. On 24 February, the 93rd Kholodnyi Yar brigade fought the invading columns, capturing Russian soldiers and winning trophy equipment. Iryna and her chaplain were on their way from their permanent place of assembly to the battalion that had broken through the Russian columns.
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‘We stopped in a car park near an office building. There was a battalion command and observation post in the basement. We got out of the car, and then there was a boom! It was like a huge earthquake, something I had never heard before. I instinctively dropped down onto the ground,' recalls the photographer. It turned out to be the third in a row Russian high-explosive bomb (HEB) the enemy had dropped on the 91st Engineer Regiment. The first hit the barracks, tearing a hole in the building. The second landed nearby on the road, creating a lake 30 meters in diameter. The third bomb fell on the military ambulance unit to which the wounded from the first bomb were being taken. Half of the building collapsed. It was less than a kilometer from the command post.
The entrance to the office center became the 'decision center'. It was the headquarters of the battalion: the commanders gave their orders, the reconnaissance units reported on the location of the enemy troops, new groups of soldiers arrived here and weapons were brought in. Anti-tank units - Corsair rocket launchers - were deployed on the roads.
Iryna Rybakova, together with the psychologist of the battalion, tried to get closer to the barracks of the regiment. Ammunition kept exploding and they heard shooting. They ran to a residential area close to the barracks. The building of the local kindergarten had been shelled, and people had died in its courtyard the day before - there were already dry bloodstains on the asphalt. Dozens of civilians were hiding in the basement, including a baby. 'At first, there was a lot of suspicions that we were "Cossack deportees". I was wearing my official uniform with all the chevrons and showing my military ID. Then people started asking us what the situation was, what to do next, what had happened to the barracks. Many people had family members serving in the unit,' says Iryna Rybakova.
From the kindergarten building, Iryna and her friend went out into the street and walked between the houses towards the engineering regiment. People looked out of the basements and asked about the situation, for example, if they could go up to their flat to use the toilet. 'Machine gun fire was constantly coming from somewhere. It was like a game of Fallout, where you don't know the situation, you don't have food, you don't have allies,' Rybakova adds.
In one of the courtyards, people in military uniforms started shouting at Irina and her friend. They pointed machine guns and grenade launchers at them. They forced them to put down their weapons and raise their hands. It was a territorial defense that was catching the 'DRG' in Okhtyrka. They asked my friend, who is a career officer, pointing to an RPG-18 'fly': Do you know what that is? The statutory uniform of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, with all its chevrons, patches, a surname embroidered with black thread, and all the documents, did not guarantee that you would not be accidentally shot near a five-story building,' explains the absurdity of the situation Iryna Rybakova.
That day together with the battalion psychologist, they never reached the barracks. The sounds of machine gun fire from the 'DRG catchers' became more and more insistent. At first, they decided to walk slowly and confidently, but after another machine-gun burst they fell to the ground, jumped up, and ran very quickly, ducking, towards their cellar.
In the evening, Iryna and her reconnaissance team went to the battlefield near the Marshal petrol station. There was still a smoking lorry with the body of a Russian smoldering inside - bones could be seen here and there. Further on there was a burnt BMP and another truck with bullet holes in the glass and doors. Near the crossroads were Ukrainian soldiers: Company Command, Reconnaissance, TDF, and a local who was helping them. Some were digging trenches, others standing at a megaphone. MT-12 guns, white-painted trophy trucks, trophy mines, and 120 mortars were placed on the road. Everyone was tired but in good spirits. People were eagerly taking pictures to capture the historic moment and their involvement. Our fighter, a young, short soldier with the call sign 'Vampire', told us excitedly about what had happened. He recalled how the convoy moved, how he and his comrades were not sure they could stop the Russians with their grenade launchers and machine guns, how they took up positions and fired, and how he emptied a magazine into a Russian officer who got out of the vehicle. 'The soldier took us to see the bodies of Russian soldiers who had already been dragged off the road,' says Iryna Rybakova. The body of the Buryat in the Russian pixel was covered with hay. Near the bus stop, they have laid minefields of trophy anti-tank mines, in case the enemy comes through this road again.
When Iryna Rybakova was driving back, the barracks of the engineering regiment were still smoking and shells were detonating. A day later, she managed to get in and film the rubble. According to Irina, more than a hundred people died there.
Iryna Rybakova is a spokeswoman for the 93rd Kholodnyi Yar Brigade of the Ukrainian Army. Probably one of the most famous and successful press officers, photographers, and journalists. She was born in Kyiv. A qualified journalist, she has worked in Ukrainian print and online media since 2004, and as communication manager for the anti-corruption organization Transparency International. She went to war for the first time in February 2015 as a member of the Carpathian Sich volunteer battalion in Pisky, Donetsk region. Since then, she has decided to document the war in Ukraine. In 2017, she was drafted into the 93rd Brigade. She recorded the battles the unit took part in during the Joint Forces Operation and during the full-scale invasion. She filmed the liberation of Okhtyrka, Trostianets, Kharkiv region, and the course of hostilities in Soledar and Bakhmut. It was published by foreign agencies (Reuters, Associated Press).
We would like to remind you that the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers has launched a series of materials dedicated to the key events of the Russian war against Ukraine, where we will publish memoirs and photographs of Ukrainian documentary photographers.
The project is being implemented with the support of the ЗМІN.
The material was worked on:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Katya Moskalyuk
Bildeditor: Vyacheslav Ratynskyi
Literary Editor: Julia Futei
Site Manager: Vladislav Kuhar
Spokeswoman Iryna Rybakova shows photos and talks about Russian captives, trophy weapons, and local resistance.
WARNING: This material contains scenes of violence and may be sensitive to you.
The town of Okhtyrka is in the Sumy region. It is less than 30 kilometers from the Russian border, but Russian troops have not been able to occupy the town. Okhtyrka has a strategic location. If it were captured, Russian troops would have a direct route to central Ukraine, to Poltava and Myrhorod, and the south-east towards Kharkiv. This would allow them to blockade the region.
In the first days of the full-scale invasion, the Russian army shelled the city with thermobaric vacuum bombs, banned under international law, and heavy artillery. Residential areas of the city were heavily damaged, and only part of the facade of the City Hall survived.
Ukrainian army soldier, spokeswoman for the 93rd Kholodnyi Yar brigade, and photographer Iryna Rybakova was in Okhtyrka on the third day of the full-scale Russian invasion. On 24 February, the 93rd Kholodnyi Yar brigade fought the invading columns, capturing Russian soldiers and winning trophy equipment. Iryna and her chaplain were on their way from their permanent place of assembly to the battalion that had broken through the Russian columns.
‘We stopped in a car park near an office building. There was a battalion command and observation post in the basement. We got out of the car, and then there was a boom! It was like a huge earthquake, something I had never heard before. I instinctively dropped down onto the ground,' recalls the photographer. It turned out to be the third in a row Russian high-explosive bomb (HEB) the enemy had dropped on the 91st Engineer Regiment. The first hit the barracks, tearing a hole in the building. The second landed nearby on the road, creating a lake 30 meters in diameter. The third bomb fell on the military ambulance unit to which the wounded from the first bomb were being taken. Half of the building collapsed. It was less than a kilometer from the command post.
The entrance to the office center became the 'decision center'. It was the headquarters of the battalion: the commanders gave their orders, the reconnaissance units reported on the location of the enemy troops, new groups of soldiers arrived here and weapons were brought in. Anti-tank units - Corsair rocket launchers - were deployed on the roads.
Iryna Rybakova, together with the psychologist of the battalion, tried to get closer to the barracks of the regiment. Ammunition kept exploding and they heard shooting. They ran to a residential area close to the barracks. The building of the local kindergarten had been shelled, and people had died in its courtyard the day before - there were already dry bloodstains on the asphalt. Dozens of civilians were hiding in the basement, including a baby. 'At first, there was a lot of suspicions that we were "Cossack deportees". I was wearing my official uniform with all the chevrons and showing my military ID. Then people started asking us what the situation was, what to do next, what had happened to the barracks. Many people had family members serving in the unit,' says Iryna Rybakova.
From the kindergarten building, Iryna and her friend went out into the street and walked between the houses towards the engineering regiment. People looked out of the basements and asked about the situation, for example, if they could go up to their flat to use the toilet. 'Machine gun fire was constantly coming from somewhere. It was like a game of Fallout, where you don't know the situation, you don't have food, you don't have allies,' Rybakova adds.
In one of the courtyards, people in military uniforms started shouting at Irina and her friend. They pointed machine guns and grenade launchers at them. They forced them to put down their weapons and raise their hands. It was a territorial defense that was catching the 'DRG' in Okhtyrka. They asked my friend, who is a career officer, pointing to an RPG-18 'fly': Do you know what that is? The statutory uniform of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, with all its chevrons, patches, a surname embroidered with black thread, and all the documents, did not guarantee that you would not be accidentally shot near a five-story building,' explains the absurdity of the situation Iryna Rybakova.
That day together with the battalion psychologist, they never reached the barracks. The sounds of machine gun fire from the 'DRG catchers' became more and more insistent. At first, they decided to walk slowly and confidently, but after another machine-gun burst they fell to the ground, jumped up, and ran very quickly, ducking, towards their cellar.
In the evening, Iryna and her reconnaissance team went to the battlefield near the Marshal petrol station. There was still a smoking lorry with the body of a Russian smoldering inside - bones could be seen here and there. Further on there was a burnt BMP and another truck with bullet holes in the glass and doors. Near the crossroads were Ukrainian soldiers: Company Command, Reconnaissance, TDF, and a local who was helping them. Some were digging trenches, others standing at a megaphone. MT-12 guns, white-painted trophy trucks, trophy mines, and 120 mortars were placed on the road. Everyone was tired but in good spirits. People were eagerly taking pictures to capture the historic moment and their involvement. Our fighter, a young, short soldier with the call sign 'Vampire', told us excitedly about what had happened. He recalled how the convoy moved, how he and his comrades were not sure they could stop the Russians with their grenade launchers and machine guns, how they took up positions and fired, and how he emptied a magazine into a Russian officer who got out of the vehicle. 'The soldier took us to see the bodies of Russian soldiers who had already been dragged off the road,' says Iryna Rybakova. The body of the Buryat in the Russian pixel was covered with hay. Near the bus stop, they have laid minefields of trophy anti-tank mines, in case the enemy comes through this road again.
When Iryna Rybakova was driving back, the barracks of the engineering regiment were still smoking and shells were detonating. A day later, she managed to get in and film the rubble. According to Irina, more than a hundred people died there.
Iryna Rybakova is a spokeswoman for the 93rd Kholodnyi Yar Brigade of the Ukrainian Army. Probably one of the most famous and successful press officers, photographers, and journalists. She was born in Kyiv. A qualified journalist, she has worked in Ukrainian print and online media since 2004, and as communication manager for the anti-corruption organization Transparency International. She went to war for the first time in February 2015 as a member of the Carpathian Sich volunteer battalion in Pisky, Donetsk region. Since then, she has decided to document the war in Ukraine. In 2017, she was drafted into the 93rd Brigade. She recorded the battles the unit took part in during the Joint Forces Operation and during the full-scale invasion. She filmed the liberation of Okhtyrka, Trostianets, Kharkiv region, and the course of hostilities in Soledar and Bakhmut. It was published by foreign agencies (Reuters, Associated Press).
We would like to remind you that the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers has launched a series of materials dedicated to the key events of the Russian war against Ukraine, where we will publish memoirs and photographs of Ukrainian documentary photographers.
The project is being implemented with the support of the ЗМІN.
The material was worked on:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Katya Moskalyuk
Bildeditor: Vyacheslav Ratynskyi
Literary Editor: Julia Futei
Site Manager: Vladislav Kuhar
UAPP is an independent association of professional Ukrainian photographers, designed to protect their interests, support, develop and promote Ukrainian photography as an important element of national culture.
UAPP's activities span educational, social, research and cultural initiatives, as well as book publishing.
UAPP represents Ukrainian professional photography in the international photographic community and is an official member of the Federation of European Photographers (FEP) — an international organization representing more than 50,000 professional photographers in Europe and other countries around the world.
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