A couple was tortured and killed in their home in Bucha

Serhii Sydorenko was tortured to death by the Russian military in his own house in Bucha on 22 March 2022. The occupants also killed his wife Lidiia. To hide this atrocity, the Russians were trying to burn the couple’s bodies at the street crossing.

“On March 26, a neighbour called and told me that my parents were shot. They were not random victims. The Russians extinguished everybody who was an activist, war veteran, teacher, worked in law enforcement. My dad took part in the Revolution of Dignity. He had always been a patriot. And my mom always supported him,” told Tetiana Naumova, their daughter.

Serhii Sydorenko was 65. He once worked at the Antonov Serial Production Plant, and then, for over 20 years, at the Kyiv department of a gas providing company. After retirement, he found a position of a keeper at a hardware manufacturing plant.

Together with his wife, Serhii built his own house; the couple brought up kids, and had a grandson. Serhii enjoyed mushroom hunting and used to ice-bath all year round.

“He tried to encourage his grandson Anton to have a healthy lifestyle, explained how important it is to keep a healthy diet,” Tetiana Naumova recalls.

Serhii also took care of the stray animals. “He could do 100 km trips to feed animals, bring them home and take care of them,” his daughter said. On February 24, Serhii Sydorenko was at work. He and his wife refused to evacuate from Bucha: they did not want to leave animals that were sheltered at their place.

“My parents had a huge charisma and passion for life. They didn’t make it to the liberation of Bucha in just nine days…” Tetiana Naumova tells.

Serhii and Lidiia left behind their son, daughter, grandson and son-in-law.

The story was prepared by the Memorial. The platform collects stories of servicemen and civilians killed by Russia.