Archaeological study of the site of a 2022 war crime reveals its enduring, traumatic impact on the citizens of Yahidne, Ukraine and highlights the potential of archaeology to record and communicate this difficult contemporary heritage.
On the third of March 2022, just seven days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, terror came to the streets of Yahidne when Russian troops entered the small village over 120km north-east of Kyiv.
The soldiers garrisoned themselves in the village and over 350 villagers, including 69 children, were forcibly confined to the basement of the local school for 27 long days.
Deprived of necessities and without space even to sleep lying down, conditions were exceptionally difficult, and some elderly prisoners tragically died.
Following the Ukrainian counter-offensive, the Russian troops withdrew, but the legacy of this traumatic experience remains in the collective memory of the citizens of Yahidne.
To tell the stories of the survivors, Dr Grzegorz Kiarszys (Szczecin University) and Marek Lemiesz (National Institute of Cultural Heritage of Poland) investigated the material residues of the Yahidne war crime.
Satellite images reveal extensive evidence of military activity, from military vehicles to temporary fortifications, whilst civilians are conspicuously absent. Their presence is instead felt through the material culture left in the school basement.
“We examined everything from children’s wall drawings, abandoned toys and school textbooks to half-eaten military rations, propaganda newspapers, spent military equipment and damaged infrastructure”, says Dr Kiarszys.
By applying an archaeological approach, the researchers preserved the tangible traces of the Russian occupation, highlighting the dissonance between the remains left by the soldiers in comparison with the civilian prisoners.
“The Yahidne war crime left behind numerous material traces”, states Dr Kiarszys. “The ominous presence of these artefacts stands in stark contrast to the peaceful school-wall decorations depicting characters from children’s stories, fairytales and symbols of peace.”
In this way, the seemingly mundane materials reveal how things that appear forgotten continue to shape the present in intangible, subtle ways. They become not only evidence of a past atrocity, but also lingering remnants of this collective trauma.
“The school’s interiors feel simultaneously familiar and alien”, Dr Kiarszys explains. “Yet each of these elements silently gestures toward what has been lost, toward absence itself”.
Plans are currently underway to convert the school into a museum that will bear witness to the events in Yahidne and serve as testimony to the international community. The results of this study will be invaluable in creating an exhibition faithful to the original scene.
"Perhaps the most meaningful contribution of our work, highlighting the social and ethical role of archaeology, is that it has helped to acknowledge the Yahidne crime, tell the story of the survivors, and contribute to the dissemination of knowledge about the tragic events that took place in Yahidne”, Dr Kiarszys concludes.