Maryna describes him as “all I could ever wish for, an example of what a guy should be.” “He was our bulwark, our heart, and the center of our family.” He fulfilled one of my deepest desires.”
Myhailo, Maryna’s 34-year-old husband, was slain by Russian forces on March 6 in Irpin, a commuter village on the outskirts of Kyiv.
This is the story of one shell that hit one flat and killed one family, but there are countless other families like this across Ukraine over three weeks after Russia’s invasion began. Maryna wishes to share her experience in honor of Myhailo, 54, and their son Serhiy, 32, who were both slain in the attack.
Warning: Certain facts in this story may distress some readers.
Serhiy, 32, was killed in the incident as well.
Serhiy died in his mother’s arms, according to the image description
We communicate via video call because Maryna, her daughter Yanna, and her grandchild are currently residing with distant relatives in western Ukraine. Myhailo is the name of the three-year-grandfather, old’s whom he adored.
Maryna comes on my screen, her face expressionless and dressed in black. Her words erupt in a torrent of anguish, sadness, and rage.
“When someone is killed somewhere, the police seek for the killer,” she explains. There is an ongoing legal battle. The offender is sanctioned. It is no longer simply one individual who is being killed, but many. The country is being annihilated. I want the world to know who is responsible so that Putin and his dictatorship are held accountable for the deaths of my loved ones.”
Maryna and her family have been engulfed by Russia’s shadow for the second time.
When the Russians started bombing Irpin, Maryna, her husband, and their son abandoned their flat and moved in with her daughter. Repeated bombardment on the day of the attack forced them to the underground parking garage.
It was quieter in the evening, so they went up to the 15th-floor flat to get some dinner and give her grandson a bath.
“We finished everything quickly,” she explained, “and then there was a thunderclap.” Myhailo and Serhiy shoved my daughter and grandchild out of the way. We were able to escape, but they were not. I had a whistling sensation in my ears and a burning sensation on my skin. I had no idea what had happened, but I was aware that I was still alive.”
The flat’s bedroom had been hit by a shell, which had blown it apart from corner to corner.
Outside in the corridor, she began yelling for her family and, by touch, located her daughter and grandson. They were terrified but unharmed, thanks to a mattress that landed on top of them. She recalls, “I started dialing my spouse and son.” “I was phoning Serhiy, Misha,” I explained. My son answered. I discovered the flat by following his voice. My spouse was waiting for me at the front door. He could have saved his life if he had simply gotten a few more inches out of the flat. He was crushed by the entire concrete wall.”
Serhiy was still alive. “‘Mum, don’t come here,’ my son screamed. Run! Get out of here as soon as possible, and take Yanna and the baby with you.” He couldn’t move, I realized. ‘Darling, please wait, I will return for you,’ I murmured.
Step by fearful step, Maryna, Yanna, and tiny Myhailo felt their way downstairs amid the smoke and dust. She pleaded with her neighbors in the parking lot for assistance. “In the blink of an eye, the men went first,” she explained. They came down and said that someone was still alive, but that there was nothing they could do about it. Maryna recalls, “I asked for sheets and bandages and said I’d go there myself.”
“I was accompanied by a female doctor. My son was still conscious when we found him. His legs were fractured and his tummy was ripped open. ‘Mum, I can’t take it any longer.’ Now is the time to kill me. My son died in my arms, not requesting anything and simply condemning Putin.”
Serhiy’s ambitions of settling down and starting a family died with him. Maryna says, “I’ll never be able to see my son’s children.” “Putin did not simply murder my son and spouse. He assassinated my family.”
The devastated wife and mother has given the Russian leader’s “special military operation,” as he refers to it, her own name. It’s a “special shelling operation,” she claims. She claims that one house being shelled was a fluke, but not hundreds of houses across Ukraine. She claims the Russians targeted houses in Irpin on purpose.
“The tanks moved from one location to the next in order to obtain the finest view,” she explains.
Vladimir Putin’s argument that his job is to safeguard Russian speakers is scorned by the 53-year-old. “He didn’t have to save me,” she explains. “I’ve never been oppressed in my life.” I’ve spent my entire life speaking Russian. I have the ability to travel. I was able to communicate in any language I desired. As a kind of protest, I began speaking Ukrainian (as have many others). Putin has taught me to be even more proud of my motherland.”
Maryna and her family have been engulfed by Russia’s vast shadow for the second time. When Kremlin-backed rebels went to war with the Ukrainian government in 2014, she and Myhailo had just moved into their “dream home” in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. They were forced to evacuate and eventually landed in Irpin, where history – or at least Russia’s version of history – repeated itself.
In a cruel irony, many of those who escaped the East established new lives in Irpin and Bucha, both of which have been subjected to Russian bombardment.
As her loss penetrates through to the bone, Maryna says each day is becoming more difficult. “You wake up in the morning and the person you care about is gone, the one who always said, ‘Good morning,’ and made you a cup of coffee. If you’re not in a good mood, no one will be able to hug you.”
Myhailo was a mechanical engineer who loved spending time with his family. “He was a father unlike many others,” Maryna says, “maybe because he spent all of his time with his children.” “He was the same with him when the grandson was born.” He taught him a lot of things.”
She describes herself and Myhailo as “huge dreamers” who were always thinking about the future. Now, instead of dreams, there’s a gnawing concern for the family she’s left behind.
“My grandson is unaware that his grandfather and uncle have died,” she explains. “He’s terrified of noise.” When he hears a noise, he inquires as to whether it is the evil guys shooting. I have to save my daughter and grandchild and get them out of the conflict zone.”
For a brief moment, it appeared that they had outrun the peril by reaching Lviv, near the Polish border. However, it was also bombed early Sunday morning, with a cruise missile strike killing 35 people at a military training base.
It is now safe to conclude that nowhere in Ukraine is safe.
Maryna is pleading with Western nations to create a no-fly zone after her husband and son were kidnapped. “I’m pleading with you to keep the skies over Ukraine clear,” she continues. “Make sure they don’t shoot at us.” Ukraine is defending all of Europe, and we will not be able to do this on our own.”
Irpin is still under fire ten days later, and the majority of the town’s 60,000 citizens have left. Maryna is tormented by the fact that Myhailo and Serhiy are still unburied in the flat’s rubble.
She continues, “My husband and son are still in that room.” “I couldn’t bury them alone.” There are no funeral services, doctors, or morgues available. I wish they can be buried with their names on the gravestones. I’d want to see a cross, and I’d like to go see it.”
One shell, one flat, and one family reflect the savagery of Russia’s invasion and Ukraine’s sorrow.
