(16 May 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kyiv region, Ukraine – 15 May 2025
1. Various of volunteer of air defence unit “Witches of Bucha” moving weapon cases to their house in the base
2. Various of Valentyna, also known by call sign “Valkyrie” checking machine gun bullets
3. Mid of volunteer of air defence unit “Witches of Bucha” sitting in their house in the base
4. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Known by call sign “Calypso”, a commander of air defence unit “Witches of Bucha”:
“Judging by the way our neighbor behaves in general, you can never trust them in anything. And that’s why maybe there will be some kind of truce. Everyone wants it. I want it too, of course, but it’s unlikely. That’s my opinion.”
5. Mid of AK-s seen in house where volunteers rest between air alarms
6. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Known by call sign “Calypso”, a commander of air defence unit “Witches of Bucha”:
“Hope is such an uncertain thing. We rely on our strength, not just hope that it will end in something. We already hoped once when we asked NATO to close the skies over us. So we don’t hope, we do.”
7. Wide of volunteer leaving house
8. Mid of wood-burning stove in the house where volunteers rest
9. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Olena, also known by call sign “Akuma”, a volunteer of air defence unit “Witches of Bucha”:
“If our partners see this, they already see that they are not contractual people, that they do not fulfill their duties, that they lie, they lie openly. They’ve sent a second echelon delegation. They do not want peace. And even in such a situation, they emphasize that peace is not needed. They need to do the arbitrariness they are currently doing in our territory. It’s our duty to defend — mine, my friends’, and my comrades’. Our job is to protect the sky and make sure no enemy threats make it through to harm us."
10. Close up of patches of Olena, also known by call sign “Akuma”, a volunteer of air defence unit “Witches of Bucha”:
11. Wide of sky and pine trees
12. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Valentyna, also known by call sign “Valkyrie”, a volunteer of air defence unit “Witches of Bucha”:
“Where Russia is there, I have no faith in anything, in what Russia says. Whatever the outcome of the negotiations, Ukraine is fighting, Ukraine is standing, Ukraine is with weapons.”
13. Various of volunteer of air defence unit “Witches of Bucha” moving weapon cases to their house in the base
STORYLINE:
The evening before Russia and Ukraine were due to hold their first direct peace talks in three years, women volunteers of the air defense unit “Witches of Bucha” were on duty, as they are each night, in a forest in the Kyiv region.
Russian drone attacks are typically more intense at night, but daytime attacks are just as deadly.
The drone unit spends entire nights driving back and forth from their base in the forest to the position.
Sometimes they stand there for hours waiting to shoot.
The night before the negotiations was quiet, and members of the unit rested in small camp houses at their forest base.
Asked about their views on a potential cease-fire, the women were doubtful any tangible results would be achieved.
“If our partners see this, they already see that they are not contractual people, that they do not fulfill their duties, that they lie, they lie openly,” said Olena, also known by call sign “Akuma,” and a volunteer of the air defense unit.
“They’ve sent the second echelon delegation. They do not want peace,” she added.
Another volunteer said she was cautiously hopeful.
AP Video shot by Alex Babenko
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