The village of Motyzhyn is located in the Kyiv region at the head of the Bucha river. About a thousand people live here today, but people have inhabited this area since long before Birth of Christ. Remnants of ancient farming cultures and settlements from the times of Kyivan Rus are found here, and the village also has a glorious history of defense that dates back to the 12th century. Researchers believe that it was here that the historical settlement of Mutyzhyr was located, as mentioned in Ukrainian chronicles. 

The modern era of Motyzhyn's development is closely associated with the Sukhenko family. Olha Sukhenko had tried her hand at various professions, including baking. However, she devoted most of her time to public work in Motyzhyn. In 2002, she was first elected secretary of the local village council. In 2006, she was elected to head the village. Local government in Ukraine then went through considerable reforms, and Olha once again assumed the position of mayor in December 2020.

The villagers valued their leader, because in Motyzhyn "they renovated a school, a cultural center, built a kindergarten, a hospital, paved the roads, put in some landscaping - everything was done thanks to Olha Petrivna”. Olha took care to preserve the history of the area and its tourist attractions, organize local holidays and acknowledge local veterans. She also started the tradition of handing out symbolic awards for the most beautiful street and house in the village. Friends say that it was Olha who became the "locomotive” of Motyzhyn and turned the village into a "flower – beautiful, well-groomed, and clean".

Olha's husband was a businessman, also actively took part in the development of Motyzhyn. Ihor Sukhenko, together with a group of like-minded peers, founded the local football club "Kolos", which competes in district tournaments. Their son Oleksandr started playing football when he was 9 years old. Oleksandr spent most of his time at the amateur level, but from 2018 to 2020 he played for a second league professional club by the name of "Chaika", starting in 21 matches and scoring 3 goals. In addition to football, he was very fond of history, and he always wanted to live his life in such a way as to leave something memorable behind.

Daria, Oleksandr's girlfriend, only has good things to say about him: "So honest and loyal that, in my opinion, people like him embody all of Ukraine." Olha and Ihor's daughter, Olena, remembers a special atmosphere in her house while growing up. Her parents did their best, became real friends for their children, and served as the soul of the family and the support of the entire village of Motyzhyn.

The Sukhenko family did much more than distribute humanitarian aid. Motyzhyn residents also provided all kinds of support to the Ukrainian army. The Russian occupiers were not welcome there. Mykola Kurach, head of Motyzhyn’s volunteer self-defense unit, was hiding out with his family in Sukhenkos’ house after their own home had been shelled. Along with Ihor Sukhenko, they recorded the positions of the Russian military and passed the information on to Ukrainian units. 

This work was of great importance. The front line passed very close to Motyzhyn itself, and there were artillery positions near the village from which Russian troops launched attacks on Bucha and Makariv. 

The Russian military, which had suffered significant losses since the beginning of the occupation, met the resistance of the local population and was hostile towards it. On 18.03.2022, the occupiers struck in Motyzhyn itself and active fighting was taking place near the stadium. The Ukrainian military had set up an ambush and destroyed a Russian armored car, as well as a truck with anti-tank weapons.

The occupiers began to retaliate against the residents of the village. They looked for people who were in contact with the Armed Forces. Russian soldiers were driving around Motyzhyn, shooting at houses and cars that contained people who were trying to evacuate. They killed 67-year-old Alla Loboda and 42-year-old Yaroslava Lytvynenko, who happened to be passing by. Over time, the situation only grew worse.

Eventually, the occupiers managed to track local resistance efforts. On the morning of 23.03.2022, the Russian military came to the Sukhenkos’ home in search of Kurach, who had left only a few minutes earlier. What happened during that first visit was recorded by Oleksandr’s sister, who called the family around 10:20 a.m. The occupiers searched the house, destroyed some of the phones, and took Oleksandr's car. In that instance, they did not detain anyone. 

Ihor Sukhenko was aware of the danger. He still managed to move his friends around and continued to meet with Roman Bezsmertny. Sukhenko asked him to convey information about the severity of the situation in Motyzhyn to the Ukrainian command. In response, the politician asked the Sukhenkos to move to his house, where similar searches had already taken place at that time.

However, the Russians returned to the Sukhenko residence at around noon and took Olha and Ihor away. Their neighbors wrote Olena to inform her of this development. She tried to contact her relatives, but their phones no longer worked. At around 2:00 p.m., she managed to get through to her brother again, and he confirmed that their parents had been abducted. Oleksandr was promised that they would be released soon. However, the Russians returned to abduct him as well. Olena received one final message from her brother at 3:36 p.m. - he texted her saying that everything would be fine. That evening, the neighbors reported over the phone that Oleksandr had also been taken away by the occupiers. 

In the following days, no one knew exactly what was happening to the family. Authorities of the prosecutor's office opened criminal proceedings in the case of violation of the laws and customs of war (art. 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The Ukrainian side included the famous Motyzhyn family in lists for prisoner exchange. Relatives of the Sukhenkos still held out hope for their release.

The fate of the family was revealed only after the village was liberated in the wake of the Russian retreat on 28.03.2022.. At first, there were only rumors - people released from Russian captivity heard from Russian occupiers that their mayor had been executed. On 02.04.2022, soldiers from the "Crimea" volunteer battalion found a mass grave with the bodies of four people in a forest near Motyzhyn. 

Three were quickly identified - Olha, Ihor and Oleksandr Sukhenko. The fact that their hands were tied and the nature of their injuries indicated that the occupiers deliberately executed these people. Oleksandr had the most severe injuries, as it’s likely that the Russian military tortured him in order to pressure his parents. Witnesses also confirmed that torture took place. Mykola Lytvynenko, who was also held captive by the Russians, heard how the occupiers beat the Sukhenkos in a nearby room.

The body of Serhiy Kubrushko was also found in the mass grave. On 11.04ю2022, Andrii Shostak was also found murdered in Motyzhyn. These volunteers were last contacted on the morning of 23.03.2022. It’s likely that the occupiers captured them first and then began to look for contacts among local residents. The Russians abducted people at the first hint of suspicion. Around the same time, they detained a local pastor, Oleh Bondarenko, because they believed that a group of Ukrainian intelligence officers was hiding in the rehabilitation center that was under his control. 

According to a subsequent medical examination, the Sukhenkos were killed shortly after their abduction, likely on 24.03.2022. As a result of the investigation conducted under the procedural leadership of the Kyiv Regional Prosecutor's Office and the Kyiv-Sviatoshin District Prosecutor's Office, the identities of five servicemen of the 37th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces and three mercenaries from the so-called Wagner Group, who are suspected of committing this crime, were established. Currently, it is only possible to inform them of their indictment in absentia.