Yuriy Glodan lost his three-month-old daughter, his wife Valeria and his mother-in-law in a rocket attack in Odesa yesterday. He himself had gone shopping at the time of the impact and is now left broken. “One Russian missile destroyed my entire world,” the BBC said.
Read all about the war between Russia and Ukraine in our file
When Glodan returned, he saw the flames shooting out of his apartment block. He panicked past some police officers and found the bodies of his wife and her mother in his flat. Baby Kira’s remains were not discovered until later.
Three generations being wiped out in one fell swoop? That blow hits hard even to the hardened Ukrainians. President Volodymyr Zelensy also referred to it in his daily speech. “Explain to me how Kira threatened Russia,” he said. “Killing children has apparently become a new national sport for the enemy. Whoever has this on his tally is an asshole without a doubt.” Five more people were killed in the attack.
photo albums
Glodan tried to salvage as much stuff as possible from the apartment yesterday. Photo albums, handwritten notes, his wife’s collection of sugar packets,… “I would like to keep some memories. Otherwise it will just be thrown away.” However, he could no longer take the pram with him, which turned out to be completely shattered.
Yuriy and Valeria became a couple nine years ago. “She could find joy in everything”, the baker recalls. “Odesa was her favorite city. She was active in the PR world and was very good at communicating with others. I admired her talent as a writer.”
“Valeria was an excellent mother and friend. It will be an impossible task to find another person like her. She was a gift from God.”
“New Level of Happiness”
Kira was born at the end of January, a month before the war was due to start. Valeria then wrote on Instagram that she had found a new level of happiness. “These were the best forty weeks of my life,” it sounded.
“We were so happy when she came into our lives,” Glodan says. “It’s very hard for me to realize that my wife and daughter are gone. One Russian missile has destroyed my entire world. Hopefully my story will help end this senseless war.”
When the reporter left, Glodan gave her another bag of diapers. “Give them to a good cause, I can’t do anything with them anymore,” the man concluded.
Also read: Rescued in Russian: Mariupol civilians found 10,000 kilometers from home (+)
Visegrad 24
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