‘Corpse of a woman lay in the kitchen!’ – eyewitnesses share impression one year after MH17 tragedy

One year ago, on July 17, Boeing-777 of Malaysian Airlines was downed in the skies above Ukrainian Donbas.

In reportage issued by radiosvoboda eyewitnesses remember the tragedy.

Wooden cross and memorial plate

Boeing-777 fell near villages of Rozsypne and Grabove.

A simple wooden cross in Rozsypne village symbolizes the place where the aircraft of Malaysian Airlines crashed.

The inscription on the plate remembers about 283 passengers and 15 crew members who perished in the tragedy. Locals of Rozsypne village express their condolence and mourn.

This collection of toys is an improvised memorial to dozens of kids who were among killed passengers on July 17.

Local residents will definitely not forget the day.

‘I entered the kitchen and there was a hole in the ceiling, and that woman lay on that pile of clay and sand’, – local Inna recalls that horrible day.

A stone monument has been installed in Grabove village.

On July 17 tragedy shocked the villagers. Children psychologists would come every day to talk to kids. However, it was a hard trial for adolescents as well.

Village head Volodymyr Berezhniy remembers the tragedy: ‘After the Boeing had fallen I personally worked there, helped. I did not sleep for a week or so, so strong the nervous breakdown was’.

Before the monument was installed Mr. Berezhniy said he had no idea what it would look and like would be written on it. According to him, installation of stone memorial was financed by sponsors from Donetsk.

The next day the installation was completed. There appeared a plate which said: ‘For innocent victims of civil war’.

Apparently, unnamed sponsors from Donetsk interpreted the tragedy in this way.

In addition, journalists spotted young boys with flags of self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic near the monument.

It might have saved us

Despite the presence of armed separatists, normal village life resumed around the villages. The hostilities ceased. Some locals call it an unexpected inheritance of MH17.

‘It might have saved us. Because then they prohibited hostilities here. OSCE arrived here. We were almost never shelled then’, – local resident Inna says.

One year ago these fields were dotted with bodies and debris. Now it all has disappeared except for some small pieces of metal. However, memories of this horrible day will stay in memory for a long time.