Recently, the Kyiv Independent team presented Danylo Mokryk's documentary film Shadows Across the River at the War Museum.
This new film by investigative journalists reveals the terror in the occupied areas of the Kherson region. At its center is the murder of 28-year-old ATO veteran Ruslan Rusnak, who was taken by russian forces from his home in the village of Hornostaivka and tortured to death in November 2023. His body, bearing signs of brutal treatment, was returned to his mother on the eighth day after the killing.
The Rusnak family is not the only one to have lost a son. After the village fell under russian military control, the occupiers set up a torture chamber in the former National Police station.
Relatives of victims and fellow villagers who managed to escape to Ukrainian-controlled territory testified to numerous incidents of terror, intimidation, abductions, beatings of civilians, and forced confiscation of property.
Liudmyla Slisarenko, a resident of Hornostaivka, still does not know the fate of her husband Oleksandr, who was also seized by the occupiers.
Director Danylo Mokryk emphasized that the facts presented in the film are a powerful reminder of why Ukrainians who remain under occupation must not be forgotten.
Head of the Investigations Unit at The Kyiv Independent, Yevheniia Motorevska, stressed that "Shadows Across the River" was created with deep ethical responsibility, prioritizing the individual over society as the filmmakers’ core principle.
Based on the evidence gathered during the investigation, journalists were able to identify individuals involved in torture and killings. The information has been handed over to Ukrainian law enforcement. The perpetrators must know that there will always be accountability for their crimes.
The film is now available in English on The Kyiv Independent YouTube channel and in Ukrainian on the Ukrainska Pravda channel.
