I am the author of the Goodacity blog, a journalist, and a translator. For 16 years, I have worked in professional journalism, contributing to regional and national publications, both in print and online media. I have written reports, conducted interviews, reviews, articles on cultural, social, and charitable topics, as well as materials in the style of "solution journalism" and communication materials.
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The Boy Who Drew Football on the Walls of the "Basement of Death" Visited Euro 2024!
On the wall of a basement, 10-year-old Kyrylo drew a football game. This wasn’t just any basement – it was where he and over three hundred other villagers were held captive for 27 days under inhumane conditions by Russian occupiers.
“I found a piece of charcoal,” recalls the boy, “it was used to mark the days and write the names of the dead on the basement walls. I drew a football field and players on it to make it less scary and hopeless. To remember that outside this basement, there is another life – and it will definitely come! If someone had told me then that just over two years later I would be at a Euro 2024 match, I wouldn’t have believed them. At that time, my only dream was to get out of that basement alive…”
Hope Exists!
This happened in the village of Yahidne, Chernihiv region, Ukraine. It became known as the “Basement of Death.” (Note: From March 3 to March 30, 2022, armed Russian soldiers forcibly held 368 villagers of Yahidne in a small basement room of 197 square meters. Due to inhumane conditions – lack of space, sanitary facilities, air, food, and water – 10 elderly people died in the basement.)
368 people – the youngest being one and a half months old, the oldest 93 years old – were held hostage for almost a month in a 197 square meter basement.
“It was so cramped that people had to sleep sitting up,” says Kyrylo’s mother, Kseniya Vidkovska.
“There was only a bucket for a toilet. There was no light, no water. In the first days, it was very cold, and then everyone suffered from the suffocating air because there were so many people in that tiny, damp basement. There was nothing to breathe, and from the lack of oxygen, people lost their sanity and died – right among us. Over that time, ten hostages died in the basement, and the Russian torturers didn’t allow us to bury them immediately. It’s impossible to recall without tears…”
Today, Kyrylo is 13, and his family is starting a new life in the small town of Dissen, Germany. Learning about Kyrylo’s passion for football, the Ukrainian Football Federation invited him to attend the matches of the Ukrainian national team and meet the team members.
“Dreams come true,” Kyrylo smiles. “It was these dreams that helped me endure in the basement in Yahidne. I love football, and it saved me during the hardest days of my life. I am very grateful for the opportunity to attend the Euro matches – it’s unforgettable!”
"Held on for the Sake of the Children"
“Kyrylo loved football since he was a child,” his mother, Kseniya, recounts. “He started playing when he was six and traveled from Yahidne to Chernihiv every day for training. He played for the Desna Chernihiv club and never missed a practice! Adults had their work, and kids had school… It was an ordinary life, a daily routine. Everything changed on February 22, 2022.
“We hoped that our small, remote village would be safe,” Kseniya recalls. “I remember inviting friends and relatives from Chernihiv to Yahidne in the early days of the full-scale Russian invasion, saying it was quieter here, and we’d wait it out. Thank God none of them came… I never could have imagined we would witness such horrific cruelty. I can’t fathom what kind of person could commit such acts…”
When the occupiers first entered the village, they immediately began forcing people into the basement of the local school. Kyrylo and his family were among the first to be taken there – they were led there at gunpoint. With shouts and curses, they herded people – with small children, infants; elderly people, even the sick and bedridden were not spared.
“My husband’s father, who has a disability, was brought to the basement in a wheelbarrow and dumped there. What followed was twenty-seven days of hell, where survival became a daily, hourly struggle…
What gave us the strength to hold on? The children. I knew I had to be strong for them – for 10-year-old Kyrylo and his older sister… Even our cat and dog were with us in the basement – seeing the atrocities the occupiers committed, we couldn’t leave our furry family members behind. So, we were all together – in the epicenter of pain and love…”
Everyone in the basement supported each other: every morning, they would read a prayer together, share the very modest food they had, cry together, and wait for the Ukrainian soldiers..
There was no light or mobile phones in the basement – the occupiers immediately confiscated them and shot them at close range. One villager miraculously managed to hide her phone and took the first photos from the basement… Later, when Yahidne was liberated by Ukrainian soldiers, and Kseniya managed to get a phone a few days later, she took a photo of Kyrylo’s football drawing – to remember what gave them the strength to hold on. That thread of light amidst darkness and horror…
A New Hope and a Fresh Start
“The memory of those events doesn’t fade. But it has crystallized into strength, resilience, and a determination to do everything for our victory!
The emotions were incredible when we were liberated. However, I remember, for a few days afterward, there was an unusual, heavy silence in the village – people were recovering from what they had been through and couldn’t believe that in the 21st century, they had to experience such things…”
“When everyone left the basement, it turned out we had nowhere to go. Our house was damaged – the Russian soldiers who occupied it broke down the doors, there was a hit on the roof, and the windows were shattered. The occupiers looted the house – they stole Kyrylo’s belongings, leaving only his flip-flops and a raincoat with Desna football club symbols, took my clothes, and even my underwear… With a suitcase of belongings for all of us, we left for Germany in April…”
Starting life from scratch in a foreign country was very difficult – not knowing the language, without everything familiar and accustomed… Kyrylo’s grandfather underwent surgery in Germany, received treatment, and is now in rehabilitation. Kyrylo himself missed his beloved football terribly – and he was overjoyed when he found a local football team, in which he now plays – and with him, the team has already won its first victories! Being present at Euro 2024, taking photos with his favorite players, watching Ukraine’s game, and singing the Ukrainian anthem together – it was a great comfort and solace after what he had endured.
“There were so many Ukrainians at all our national team’s matches, and their support was very palpable,” Kyrylo says. “When the whole multi-voiced stadium raises yellow and blue flags and sings our anthem – it’s just chilling…
My favorite was Ukraine’s winning game against Slovakia,” Kyrylo smiles. “I believe that both our national team and our Ukraine have all the victories ahead. And that most important, most awaited victory – first and foremost…”
