irina led the way to her son s bedroom, damaged by shelling weeks after he was killed. we were the first outsiders she d seen since the russians left on friday, and the story of alexei s death spilt out. translation: the pain is so bad. now i m all alone. my son was young, 27 years old. he wanted to stay alive. alexei was born when iryna was 18. her life has not been easy, but she dreads the future without him. she said he d served in the army, but that day he was going to work at the garage. after they killed her son, she fled and the russian soldiers took over the house, and judging by the rubbish
they left behind them, they were having a good time. loads of bottles of vodka, jack daniels, bell s whisky, beer, you name it. it is hard to understand human behaviour like this, but what makes it really tragic is that there are so many accounts of it happening where russian soldiers have been and are now in ukraine. she sobs. on her own, iryna buried alexei in the garden after she d brought his body back from the road in a wheelbarrow. translation: i covered the grave with a blanket| to protect it from the dogs. he isn t in a coffin. i had to roll him in a carpet. did you say to the russians, why did you kill my son? translation: they were in jeeps with guns. - they killed him and fled.