Russia-Ukraine war: Irpin policeman remembers evacuation amid ongoing conflict

Before Russian withdrawal from Kyiv and surrounding areas on April 2, suburbs and towns near city's airport were pounded by rockets, artillery fire and aerial bombardment in an effort to break Ukrainian defences.

Entire city blocks of apartments were blackened by shelling in Irpin, just 20 kilometres (12 miles) rthwest of capital, along a route where police Lt. Ruslan Huseiv patrolled daily.

Some of most dramatic scenes from early sts of war were of evacuation from Irpin, underneath a destroyed highway bridge, where thousands escaped relentless attacks.

Huseiv was re for 16 days, organising crossings where elderly were carried along muddy pathways in wheelbarrows.

Reconstruction work has begun on bridge, where mangled concrete and iron bars hang over river.

Clothing and shoes from those who fled can still be seen tangled in debris. "This bridge was ro from hell," says 34-year-old Huseiv standing next to an overturned white van still lodged into a slab of smashed concrete.

"We got people out of (Irpin) because conditions were terrible — with bombing and shelling," he said. He recounted how many lost ir children, siblings and members of ir families.

Crosses me from construction wood are still nailed to railings of bridge to hour those lost and effort to save civilians. "People witnessed our solidarity," says Huseiv, who grew up in Germany and says he would never again take good things in life for granted. "In my mind, everything has changed: My values in life," he said. "w I understand what we have to lose."