ostrovsky in Kyiv.
Geoff: Cities and towns across
northern Ukraine are being freed
by Ukrainian forces, as the
Russians redeploy to the east.
One such city is trostyanets,
northwest of kharkiv, the site
of pitched fighting until its
liberation two weeks ago.
Special correspondent jack
Hewson and videographer Ed ram
traveled there, and found a city
destroyed, its people reeling.
Jack: The scars of battle in the
recently liberated town of
trostyanets.
Civilians try to resume daily
life amid the ruins of their
community.
The town will take time to
rebuild, but the wounds of
trauma will take longer to heal.
On the outskirts of the town we
meet Luba kryuchko, mourning the
loss of her grandson.
>> This is our cemetery.
Jack: The 14 year old boy and
her two Neighbours were killed
as Ukrainian and Russian forces
battled for the town, just days
before its liberation on March
26.
>> I wish he could be just
alive. It doesna™™t matter that
the flat is ruined, we can
rebuild it.
But I wish my grandson was
alive.
That would be the best thing
that could happen.
Jack: Luba shows us the
destruction to her home.
She was hiding in her basement
when the artillery round struck.
But her grandson and Neighbours
were not so fortunate.
As she emerged above ground she
discovered a horrifying scene.
>> The woman was lying there,
without her head.
Look at what has happened.
Her head was blown off and all
her bones blown apart, there in
the basement too.
And here was my grandson's body.
He did not run to the basement
in time.
We were in the basement and all
the body fragments got blown in
there also.
Jack: On the way up to Luba's
apartment, we meet Victor.
His son was critically injured
in the blast, but when they
tried to take him to hospital
they were stopped by Russian
troops.
>> We got to the checkpoint at
the crossroads between the
hospital and the school.
We were stopped.
They shot in the air and
searched the car.
I said we are going to the
hospital with my injured son.
They said, ride, but we will
shoot you in the back.
You can go, but we will kill
Jack: There is a giant tear in
Luba's bedroom from the strike
but her grandson's death, and
the serious injury to her son
have left a bigger emotional
hole in her life.
>> I don't know how to explain.
It is hard.
He lived with me, the child.
Jack: Until Luba finds the money
to repair her apartment she is
sleeping on her neighbor's sofa.
>> We had everything,
everything, until some man got
weird ideas in his head, that he
should destroy everything.
That is all.
Jack: Luba's home was struck as
fronts shifted around the town's
edges.
When the time came, locals say
Ukrainian forces took five days
to re-take trostyanets.
At the train station, a focal
point of the battle, there is
evidence of some of the fiercest
fighting.
This is or perhaps was the
city's train station and it has
been used as a base by the
Russians while they were here.
You can see the scale of the
fighting that has gone on here.
Pockmarks in the concrete, boxes
of Russian armaments, there were
snipers positioned on top of
this and seven tanks according
to locals.
The Ukrainian military are
already clearing the charred
remnants of Russian artillery
units.
Emblems of an embarrassing
strategic failure.
The town was only ever expected
to be a stepping stone to
victory in Kyiv.
But as the advance stalled,
Russia's presence in trostyanets
became an occupation.
After a month in hiding,
emotions run high.
Residents are now reliant on
humanitarian aid.
>> They shot down people just
for nothing, people that were
just walking in the street with
their children if they had not
quickly run away.
They went around with guns and
kicked us out of our houses.
>> I knew about the situation
outside and did not go out.
I was scared.
You can see what happened to the
city.
>> They went into houses and
beat people.
They took and broke phones.
They did what they wanted.
They were barbarians.
God says you should love your
enemy.
It is impossible.
I only have heat.
Jack: Locals say the Russian
troops were civil at first, but
apple a couple weeks the
disappearances and atrocities
began.
Anger at Russian violations is
pouring out across the liberated
towns of the north.
Luba's life has been changed
forever.
>> I told you that I have enough
of this for the rest of my life.
Until I am dead, this pain, the
hate, nothing else.
The hate and anger.
That is what I feel.
I wish I could kill them myself.
Those who came here.
That is all.
Jack: As more alleged atrocities
are uncovered, Luba is one of
many burying their loved ones
across Ukraine.
A country reeling from its loss.
For the pbs newshour, I'm jack
Hewson in trostyanets, Ukraine.
Geoff: And a note, our coverage
of the war in Ukraine is
supported in partnership with
the pulitzer center.