Holocaust survivors curse Putin from Ukraine bomb shelter

From a bomb shelter in Kyiv, Ukraine, Holocaust survivors are cursing Russia’s President Vladimir Putin for his invasion, which they say recalls the persecution they faced during the Nazi’s Babi Yar massacre. 

“My name is Valentina Romanov. I was born in Ukraine,” one survivor said. “On June 22nd, 1941, I was under attack in Kyiv at the beginning of World War II. My family died in Babi Yar.”

“On February 24th, 2022, I am again under attack (from) shelling in Kyiv. Putin - take your army and get out of Ukraine. We want peace!”

Another survivor spoke out alongside her, standing between Ukrainian and Israeli flags set up within the shelter.

“I was born in 1940 in Kyiv. My family died in Babi Yar in 1941,” he said. “Now I am in a shelter, attacked by enemy bombs. Putin - get out of Kyiv and Ukraine!”

Around 100,000 people were murdered by the Nazis at the Babi Yar ravine northwest of Ukraine's capital, and the site is Europe's largest mass grave, according to the Babi Yar Holocaust Memorial.

A second female survivor in the shelter delivered her story.

“I’m Tamara Lukash, born in 1939. Before the war, I lived in Kyiv, I was born in Kyiv. When the war started, my mother’s family was taken to Babi Yar,” she said.

“All of them died there. Now, I am again in Kyiv,” the woman explained. “This is horrible - Putin, I wish you to die! Leave us alone you bastard! We don’t want to hear (or) see you, we want peace.”