Ukrainian Woman Describes Russians Attacking Civilians, Smashing Phones to Destroy Evidence: ‘They Are Not Humans’

MSNBC’s Ali Velshi has been reporting live from Hungary as refugees from the conflict in Ukraine continue to pour across the border. He spoke with one women who described such horrors by Russian troops that she was compelled to say they are “not human” but more like “creatures” from a movie.

Speaking with anchor Alex Witt on Saturday, Velshi described the scene as refugees continue to cross the border, arriving by train and other methods.

“It is cold outside. They wait outside to have a comfortable seat, seated together with the kids. Look at the belongings in the bags. They come here. They get some food and medication and translation and plans,” he said, setting the scene. “A woman got off the train earlier coming in from Ukraine and then I asked her how are you? She said ‘I’m alive.’ I asked her what happened to start the journey.”

The video cut to that earlier interview, as the Ukrainian woman described what led them to leave their homes.

“Russians knock at our door and they say you better go out because it will be hell in some, in two hours it will be hell here,” she said, describing what was apparently a door-to-door warning or threatening of civilians in Ukrainian cities.

It was no humanitarian evacuation of the populace, as she described their fleeing on their own and without protection or safe passage, as explosions continued all around and they had to hide in bushes and crawl through the forest to escape.

“We jump in the car and we try to find a safe way,” she explained. “All the bridges were exploded. We were jumping from bush to bush. We were crawling through the forest. No road, nothing.”

“I have seen dead bodies. This was just like trash laying in a beautiful place,” she continued.

“They don’t belong here,” she said of the Russian invaders. “They are — okay. I can say, they are not humans. This is something like a movie. Movie. Some creatures coming from space, from some other planets. Nothing humanic on their faces.”

She also said that Russians were taking and smashing phones to prevent photographic evidence of what they were doing, or would smash “the faces of the people.” Attacking civilians who have evidence of their actions, in other words.

“They didn’t allow us to have pictures of what was destroyed by them. Anyone who had pictures they smashed the phone,” she said. “From time to time they smashed the faces of the people because they had some good pictures of what they had done.”

When Velshi was back live, he said that when he asked what they will do now, the woman told him “I’m alive and I’ve got my hands. I will do something.”

“So there is an indomitable spirit here that is, you know it’s tragic, but people are prepared to do something to make their lives something of a success after this. But every last one is not talking about going somewhere else to settle, they’re talking about when they can get back to Ukraine.”

Watch the clip above, via MSNBC.

Click here for our latest on coverage of Ukraine.

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