Ukrainian mother tells of the loss of her 10-year-old son in air raid

Ukrainian mother tells of the loss of her 10-year-old son in air raid

Kramatorsk - In a war that has asked many lives for years, the names of the dead often fade on faceless lists. But every loss leaves a black hole in the worlds that have been left behind. This applies particularly to the ten-year-old Tymur Hryhorenko, one of the youngest victims in the Ukraine conflict.

The tragic loss

The sober facts about Tymurur's death are terrifying and unfortunately not exceptional. After three years of Russian bomb he was the only death of a devastating air raid at 4:40 a.m., which met an apartment in the Frontstadt Kramatorsk on July 22nd. Tymur had lost his father through the war two years ago and wanted to visit his grandmother in Kramatorsk. He was only nine hours away from going to Kiev with his mother Nastya, where relative security was waiting.

The mother's desperate hope

A video published by the emergency services in Donetsk shows Tymurs lifeless, blood -blurred body, which apparently still has a pulse, while emergency services try to revive it before the crumbled apartment. His mother had left him with his grandmother that night, but had immediately rushed back to the scene of the accident. "A soldier came out and said that he had a pulse and that they would revive it," she reported. "During these 40 minutes in which they pumped his chest, I prayed to God to give him life. But the miracle did not happen."

The shadows of the past

NASTYA sits alone on a bench in front of her sister's apartment in Kramatorsk, crushed by her loss. Tymur was her only child. His father, Evhen, with whom she lived separately, fell in May 2023 in the fight against the Russians near Lyman. It shows videos on which Tymur and Evhen play with each other. Evhen whirls his son through the air, with a maternal lightness, but at the same time carefully. Almost a year ago she married for the second time, but her new husband died of a heart attack just six months later.

The feelings of guilt of the mother

NASTYA is accused of not being in her mother's bedroom next to her son Tymur when the bomb hit. "Unfortunately, I wasn't at home at that moment," she cried. “I don't know why or how, what strength I kept me from it. But I should have been with him. And I complain very much for it.”

the last night

tymur had insisted to visit his grandmother. But Nastya wanted to take the train to Kyiv the next day. "He said he wanted to stay. I said: 'No, son, we go, we definitely go.’ The place of his death is typical of a city in the east where Ukrainian troops live among the civilian population and do not distinguish Russian bombs. An older woman pouring her plants in the courtyard murmurs that the troops make her a goal. A neighbor clears shards from the staircase, which is still stained by Tymur's blood. Children's toys are lost on the roof under the surrounded roof cardboard.

The memories continue to live

Nastya remembers her last evening together before he died. "We played crazy, I showed him how I massaged him as a child, we laughed ... and that's it." She shows videos by Tymur, who enjoys a McDonald’s milk shake, in a "Friends" hoodie and birthday parties. It is his little virtues that Nastya hopes for and which she holds on.

The loss of innocent

"He loved all animals and children," she says. "At home in Kiev, two rats are waiting for him. He loved her over everything and asked me constantly whether I cleaned her home and fed her." His teacher praised him for working for girls in his class. "He is very caring," she said, broke out in tears. “A very bright boy, really.”

The cruel reality of the war

The Unicef reported in June that over 2,700 children were killed or injured in the war in Ukraine. Tymurs Fresh Grab is located on the outskirts of the city, on a hill that is covered with flowers. The cemetery has new holes, freshly dug, and the acceptance of the loss of the city is far away. The horizon occasionally trembles under explosions, and the birds fly up terribly when the air raid sires sound.