Alina Koreniuk claims that this picture shows her looted boiler and other items from her home
(Picture: REUTERS)A Ukrainian refugee living in the UK claims to have recognised her looted possessions pictured sitting on top of a Russian tank.
Alina Koreniuk said that a box in the photo, taken by the Reuters news agency in May, contains a boiler she had planned to install before the beginning of the Russian invasion.
She is currently living with a British couple in Southwell, Nottinghamshire with her daughters Kristina, 12, and Olha, 8, after fleeing the country on April 8.
The picture was taken in late May in the town of Popasna, which is under Russian control. A tablecloth, Disney bedsheets for her children and a red blanket are also visible on top of the tank.
Ms Koreniuk told the BBC that the picture had originally been spotted by her husband.
“He said: ‘Do you notice anything strange about this photo,’ and asked me if I saw what he saw in it,” she said.
“Our reaction was that whatever they hadn’t destroyed they would steal,
“We expected houses in Popasna to be looted, we’d been told many times about this.”
Ukrainian civilians have frequently complained of looting by Russian soldiers since the beginning of the war.
Last month, Russian soldiers were accused of looting priceless artefacts from the Museum of Local History in the southern city of Melitopol, according to Radio Free Europe.
Russian independent news website Mediazona also claimed Vladimir Putin’s troops had sent home 58 tonnes of looted goods from areas close to the border.
Items they are said to have stolen included trainers, canned food, TVs and tents.
“Over half of the town is likely now occupied by Russian forces, including Chechen fighters,” the ministry said in an intelligence update posted on Twitter.
