Ukrainian mother loses 10-year-olds in Russian air raid

Ukrainian mother loses 10-year-olds in Russian air raid

Kramatorsk - If wars demand many lives over the years, the names of the deceased often blur into anonymous lists. But every loss leaves a deep hole in the life of those who remained. The case of Tymur Hryhorenko is one of the most tragic examples.

Horific details of an air raid

The terrible facts about his death are terrifyingly common after three years of Russian bombing. On July 22nd, he was killed by a Russian air raid at 4:40 a.m., which met an apartment on the top floor in Kramatorsk. Tymur, 10 years old, was one of the latest children who had lost their lives in Russia's war against Ukraine. He had lost his father through the war two years earlier and wished to visit his grandmother in Kramatorsk. Only nine hours separated him from his departure with his mother Nastya to Kiev, to the comparatively safe capital.

The desperate struggle for his life

A video published by the emergency services in Donetsk shows Tymurs lifeless, bleeding body, which apparently still has a pulse and is reanimated outside the destroyed apartment. His mother had left him with his grandmother that evening, but had hastily returned to the scene of the accident. "Like a new glimmer of hope," she said, "came out one of the soldiers and said that he had a pulse and reanimating him. In these 40 minutes, while pumping his chest, I prayed to God to give his life. But the miracle did not happen."

The impact of the loss

Nastya was sitting alone on a bench in front of her sister's apartment in Kramatorsk, crushed by grief. Tymur was her only child. His father, Evhen, from whom she separated from, died in May 2023 when he fought against the Russians outside of Lyman. She shows videos of Tymur and Efhen who play together on a bed while Eathe whirls his son around his son with fatherly skill. She married again almost a year ago, but her second husband died of a heart attack six months later.

The unimaginable guilt

Nastya blames herself that she was not with her son in her mother's room when the bomb hit. "Unfortunately, I wasn't at home at that time," she cried. "I don't know why or how, what forces I had off. But I should have been with him. And I blame myself for it."

Typical life in the war zone

tymur had insisted to visit his grandmother. However, Nastya was determined to take the train to Kiev 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, in which Ukrainian troops are mercilessly life and Russian bombs, day after day and night.

memories of the last time together

She remembers her last evening together before his death. "We laughed together, I showed him how I used to give him massages, and that's it." Nastya shows videos of the growing boy who enjoys a McDonald’s milk shake in a "Friends" hoodie. Of birthday parties and from Tymur, who presents a poem about the value of the family. Nastya clings to his little virtues, even at this age.

The loss of a lovable child

"He loved all animals and children," she said. "At home in Kiev, two rats are waiting for him. He loved her over everything. He called me all the time and asked: 'Mama, did you clean her enclosure? Did you fed her? Did you have water?" "His teacher praised him for girls who were bullied in his class. "He is very caring," she said in a broken voice. "A very bright boy, really."

The tragic reality of the war

Unicef reported in June that over 2,700 children were killed or injured by the war in Ukraine. Tymur is resting on the outskirts, on a hill in a fresh grave, the lid of which is covered with flowers. The cemetery has new, freshly dug holes, and the accepted reality of the loss is far from over. The horizon occasionally slows down through explosions, and the birds fly open, frightened by aerial alarm sirens.