In July 2014, DPR militants stopped 16-year-old Stepan Chubenko.
They knocked out his teeth, tied his hands and legs with tape, pulled a T-shirt over his head, and executed him. Then they dumped his body in a trench near a river, writes Babel. 1/
They knocked out his teeth, tied his hands and legs with tape, pulled a T-shirt over his head, and executed him. Then they dumped his body in a trench near a river, writes Babel. 1/
Stepan traveled home to Kramatorsk. At Mospyne station, gunmen dragged him off the train [parents say for his blue-yellow ribbons and Karpaty football scarf]
Witnesses said the fighters strangled him with a towel, beat him and forced him to swaer loyalty to “DPR.” He refused. 2/
Witnesses said the fighters strangled him with a towel, beat him and forced him to swaer loyalty to “DPR.” He refused. 2/
His mother Stalina and father Viktor searched every hospital and trench around Donetsk. For weeks they begged militants for answers.
Stalina caught DPR leader Zakharchenko in his convoy and screamed: “My son is 16. Where is he?” The next day he called her: “He was shot.” 3/
Stalina caught DPR leader Zakharchenko in his convoy and screamed: “My son is 16. Where is he?” The next day he called her: “He was shot.” 3/
Militants buried Stepan in a trench. When they tried to force Stalina to leave him there, she threatened to jump from a window unless they released the body.
She brought him back to Kramatorsk and buried him in November 2014. 4/
She brought him back to Kramatorsk and buried him in November 2014. 4/
At home, she kept his hoodie with “Glory to Ukraine,” his Shakhtar mug, and the T-shirt he wore for KVN — the same shirt the killers pulled over his head before shooting him. 5/
Stalina and Viktor now live in Poltava. They carry two boxes with Stepan’s belongings to every safe corner during air raids.
“What I hide behind two walls,” Stalina says, “are my son’s things.” 6/
“What I hide behind two walls,” Stalina says, “are my son’s things.” 6/
They publish his poems in a book called “I Understood the Meaning of Life.”
In 2022, vandals smashed Stepan’s grave in Kramatorsk.
They camouflaged the grave so strangers can’t find it. “Stepan wanted Kramatorsk to stay Ukrainian,” Stalina says. “Let him guard his city.” 7X
In 2022, vandals smashed Stepan’s grave in Kramatorsk.
They camouflaged the grave so strangers can’t find it. “Stepan wanted Kramatorsk to stay Ukrainian,” Stalina says. “Let him guard his city.” 7X
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