When shall we three meet again?
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?
When the hurly-burly's done,
When the battle's lost and won.
That will be ere the set of sun.
The Witches - Macbeth Act 1, Scene 1
KYIV – Even as the temperature drops into the double digits below zero, children go ice fishing on the frozen river, and the snow settles on the fields, there is no respite for the “Witches of Bucha.”
The “Witches” make up the majority nowadays of the Bucha Volunteer Corps, which is part of Ukraine’s Territorial Defense Forces – one of the three pillars of the country’s defense alongside the army and National Guard. The unit is made up of almost 100 volunteers and operates in the town around 30 km. northwest of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv.
Several such units form an air defense ring around the capital as it deals with nightly drone attacks by Russian forces. The men and women serve without pay, working 24-hour shifts followed by 48 hours off. Training is held every Saturday.
Russian drones cause immense devastation, targeting power plants, homes, hospitals, and schools. In Kyiv, skyscrapers stand with their faces ripped off and buildings lie in ruins, thanks to the almost daily Russian attacks. Every intercepted drone saves Ukrainian lives. On the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, The Jerusalem Post witnessed the largest drone attack of the war. A reported 267 Shahed attack drones were launched, and the “Witches” were called into action.
All they have with which to fight the drones are machine guns, mounted on a rotating platform along with a tripod, all placed on the back of a white pickup truck. Their weapons date from the Second World War – the machine guns are emblazoned with the Soviet star and the irony is not lost on anyone.
'Now, we feel strong'
“Everyone changed after the Russians came,” volunteer Irina told The Post. “At first, we were weak and scared, but now we feel strong. The Russians are sons of b****es.”
The 37-year-old is a realtor in normal life, and her husband has been serving in the Ukrainian army since the beginning of the invasion. Irina, who volunteered because she could work and serve at the same time, now heads one of Bucha’s mobile anti-drone units. Her native city, Izium, in the eastern part of the country, came under Russian occupation in April 2022, although it has now been freed. She remembers waking up one day “and the Russians were there.”Across Ukraine, both military and civilian voices echo a common theme – pride. Pride in having resisted an enemy with seemingly endless resources and in defending their homeland against the odds.
Many are unwilling to describe in detail what they saw or witnessed when the Russians arrived, and it is not just Ukrainians from the east who have seen firsthand the scars of war.Larissa, 28, is from Bucha and expressed a similar sentiment: “I didn’t invite the Russians here, so I have to fight them. Right now, we have to keep thinking we will make it.”
Bucha itself spent time under Russian occupation. The Battle of Bucha was a pivotal clash in the broader Kyiv offensive during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as Moscow’s forces sought to take the capital. From February 27 until March 3, 2022, Bucha was under Russian control. The battle continued to rage in the area for over a month before Russian troops retreated on March 31, and was a key element of Russia’s failed strategy to encircle Kyiv.
Katya, an effervescent 32-year-old volunteer with an infectious laugh who acted as the Post’s translator, is also from Bucha, and, recalled how “the Russians lived in my apartment. They destroyed so much.
“I’m just glad they didn’t kill my cat.”
Following the Russian withdrawal, the full horror of the Bucha massacre came to light. On April 1, 2022, harrowing images and footage surfaced, revealing widespread atrocities committed by Russian forces against Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war during their occupation of the city. Ukrainian officials estimate that at least 500 people were brutally killed, with evidence of executions, torture, and mass graves, making Bucha one of the most chilling symbols of Russian war crimes in the conflict.
The scars of war linger not just in memory but in the very streets of Bucha. Few know this better than Col. Andriy Verlaty, who witnessed what was left of Bucha after the battle and the remnants of the massacre.
Verlaty, a soldier during Soviet times, worked for Ukraine’s Environment Ministry before Russia’s invasion. As the father of three, he is technically exempt from military service, but chose to join the Territorial Defense Forces. He was among those who helped clear Bucha after Russian forces withdrew two months into the war. He saw civilian bodies lying in the streets, burned by retreating soldiers attempting to cover up war crimes.
“What was here after the Russian occupation, I cannot say,” he understated.
“When I understood the Russians were coming, I went to Kyiv, got weapons, and came back to set up the battalion,” he told the Post from inside the battalion’s headquarters, a run-down building with peeling wallpaper that formerly served as the city’s medical center.“[The volunteers] get to go home, but I live here. When they return for shift, I have to kick them back into shape,” Verlaty said jokingly. “We are the best unit in the territorial defense, and we make everyone else raise their level. If you want to be the best, you have to have something about you.”
On his broad shoulder sits a military patch reading in German, “Mit der MG gegen der Schwarm” (With the machine gun against the [drone] swarm), and Verlaty is proud of the work he and his battalion have been able to accomplish despite receiving no government or military funding – any incoming money comes from civilian donations. The Bucha battalion also spent time working with foreign forces who have come to help with training and tactics.
“I thank those who have come from different countries to help us and train us, such as Germany and the US,” Varlaty stated as he gestured toward a huge US flag on the wall of his office.“When they came to train us, they quickly realized we already had a high level of expertise. In some areas, we were even better than them, but they still taught us a lot.
“Our unit and others like it are similar to the National Guard in the US, but the problem is that our government doesn’t contribute. Only our people and local communities support us. Here, we have to work for everything we have – it all comes from our own people. We face huge problems with our vehicles, armor, and uniforms – especially for the women. Before last January, our unit was almost entirely male. Now, it’s mostly women, and they are out there fighting, shooting down drones. Some of them were on the front lines in Pokrovsk.
“We are really grateful for all the help we receive – it makes a real difference. Everything we get allows us to shoot down more drones. Even in Israel, you could benefit from our experience, because you, too, have crazy neighbors like we do.”
In addition to air defense, the battalion supports frontline troops by handling logistics and trench construction, allowing combat soldiers time to rest. Its last rotation at the front was near Pokrovsk, where war still rages in the east.
Describing the work after the Russians had left Bucha, Verlaty explained how, “after the occupation, we made a huge operation trying to find collaborators with the Russians. All of them are our enemies, and we have to treat them like enemies. We have a facility for collaborators, working with the police, and we take care of all of them.”
He said he can spot a collaborator a mile away, and there is no reason to doubt him.There is one local volunteer who has a different role than scanning the skies for incoming drones. As in Israel, the sight of Maria walking up the path to ring the doorbell can only mean one thing for the family inside – the death of a loved one. She has spent the past months navigating the emotional toll of war – not on the battlefield but in the deeply personal role of notifying local families when their loved ones fall on the front lines.
A government worker by profession, she chose this responsibility herself, feeling it was important that the families of the fallen hear the devastating news from one of their own.“In our country at war, a lot of people are dying – families, people we care about,” she told the Post. Maria doesn’t dwell on politics, nor does she have any interest in Ukraine’s president or American politicians debating the war from afar. Her focus is singular: “I care about my family and the soldiers on the front lines. I don’t have time to think about anything else – it’s enough for me.”
Her patriotism is unshaken. Even before 2022, she was proud of her country, but Russia’s invasion only hardened her resolve. “I have the warrior spirit,” she said. “There is always someone to protect.” She sees no end to the war anytime soon, acknowledging widespread PTSD among soldiers and civilians alike. Still, she keeps training, determined to stay strong “just in case.”
There is much worry among Ukrainians that even if the war does end soon and losing sovereign territory to Russia is worth the price of peace, it will not be the end. Many predict that the Russians will simply rearm and try again in the future.
“Even if Russians get some of our country, we will lose our people there,” Col. Verlaty stated. “It may take one or two years, but the Russians will come back. Their propaganda may work, but if we show our people that life is better in [European] Ukraine, they will want to come back to us.”For the “Witches of Bucha,” the dramas playing out in Washington – US President Donald Trump’s maneuvering, with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, for an end to the war – are of secondary importance. For them, real courage isn’t about rhetoric – it’s about defending your country, no matter the cost.
It is perhaps something that neither Trump nor Vice President JD Vance will ever understand and something Ukrainians and Israelis alike are all too familiar with – the knowledge that you are defending your homeland and your home; that, if you lose, there is no packing everything onto a plane in Kabul or Baghdad and flying home to fight again somewhere else tomorrow. In the wars of Ukraine and Israel, if you lose, there is no tomorrow.
“I supported Zelensky from his first day in office,” Irina told the Post. “Everyone is a hero in Ukraine – our president, our government, but the biggest heroes are the ones who have died on the front lines.”
Thanks to the machinations of Trump, the US’s continued demonization of Zelensky, and the calculations of Russia’s Vladimir Putin, the “hurly-burly” may indeed soon be done, and the battle will either be lost or won, but for the “Witches of Bucha” life will never be the same.They have seen and lost too much – homes, friends, family members, part of their country. But they are here, ready to defend their homeland whenever needed, should the Russians decide to strike again.
“They’re my witches,” Verlaty said with a smile.