“Mom constantly thinks that I’m going to walk into the room. But that will never happen again.” Stories of children killed by Russia

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On June 1, the world celebrates International Children’s Day. This is a reminder that adults must protect the rights of children, do everything so that they grow up happy, able to study, and do not know grief and war. They all deserve to grow up in a peaceful world, not to see violence, not to feel fear because of constant shelling. But due to Russian aggression, Ukrainian children are deprived of this. Only according to the confirmed data of the UN children’s fund UNICEF, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in Ukraine, almost one and a half thousand children have been affected. A third of them died. If they could, what would they tell about themselves and the day of their death? The stories are compiled with the help of native dead children. “I really wanted to learn to ride a bicycle” Artem Korniychuk, 1 year 7 months Kryvyi Rih, December 16, 2022 Artem Korniychuk Hello, I’m Artemko. I am now always 1.7 years old. I died in Kryvyi Rih, at my home, when a Russian rocket hit the house. My mother and father were with me. They are also gone, like our neighbor. And in a few days, another man from our house died in the hospital. Our apartment is no longer there, as well as the entire entrance. My parents had two of us: me and my older brother Maksym. When mom and dad found out that they would soon have me, they were very happy. But Maksymko was terribly jealous. But everything changed when I was brought from the maternity ward, my brother became my best friend! If the parents needed help, he could take a closer look and entertain. This was especially useful when the three of us, with my brother and mother, lived abroad. We temporarily left to escape the war. I was very young then, about a year. Dad was waiting for us at home. Oh, how I loved him when I returned! Of course, I also adored my mother, but everyone called me a daddy’s boy. I was similar to him. Before I was born, my parents and Maxim often went to nature, fishing, and the sea. Then my mother began to stay with me. But we were to resume our family holiday tradition once I was older. I really wanted to learn to ride a bike. Dad taught Maxim, and they rode a lot together. In a few years I was to join them. On the day we died, my brother was not at home. He stayed at his grandmother’s the night before. And we, although we went to the storage room, as it was dangerous, we stayed in the apartment that morning. Now mom and dad and I are Maxim’s guardian angels. “I died instantly from the wreck, and then the car with my body exploded” Kyrylo Pyakhin, 8 years old Vinnytsia, July 14, 2022 Kyrylo Pyakhin Hello everyone! My name is Kyrylo, I am 8 years old, I come from Kherson, but I was killed in Vinnytsia. It was to this city that I evacuated with my family after two months of living under occupation. On July 14, a Russian missile hit an office building in the center of Vinnytsia. At that time, I was in the car with my uncle, and my grandmother went to the bank. I died instantly from the wreckage, and then the car with my body exploded. The uncle was lucky, the shock wave threw him out of the open window. That rocket killed 27 people, including me and two other children. As a child, I grew up similar to my father in appearance, and my mother in character. He said his first word early, it was “dad”, he quickly took his first steps. I was a quiet boy who loved to collect Legos. He had dozens of sets of this constructor, built huge buildings. It was not difficult for my parents with me, because I always obeyed them. In his free time, he was engaged in drawing and playing football, after school he played chess. At school, I liked reading and language, I quickly learned poems. I remembered everything almost from the first time. My parents and I walked a lot, went to the village to visit our relatives. A week and a half before I was killed, we celebrated my birthday. My parents gave me everything I wanted: an automatic machine, my favorite Lego and a car with a steering wheel. And then – exactly 10 days later – I was killed by a Russian missile. Dozens of people gathered to see me on my last journey, most of them strangers. They just wanted to support my family. They put a soft toy in the house – my favorite Potap bear. After my death, my mother divorced my father. Now she is abroad, she says that it is very difficult for her, she lives only one day, she has sessions with a psychologist. My mother constantly thinks that I will come into the room, ask something or ask something. But that will never happen again. “I grew up as a little princess” Anna Figurna, 15 years old Dnipro, January 14, 2023 Anna Figurna Hello everyone! Now you are looking at my smiling face. Let’s get to know each other better. My name is Anya, I am 15 years old, I have lived in Dnipro all my short life. This is where I was killed. On January 14, 2023, the enemy hit a house in the Peremoha housing estate with a rocket. My whole family gathered there in one apartment: me, mother, father, grandparents, aunt and her husband. Only my grandmother survived… I grew up as a little princess with my parents. Mom and dad did everything to make me happy. Friendly, open, sincere, smiling, ready to help – that’s what every relative or acquaintance could say about me. I studied with pleasure, took part in Olympiads, memorized poems quickly, and loved to be in the lead role during events. In the future, I really wanted to become a psychologist, I liked to listen to my friends and help them with advice. I also willingly took on the duties of a manager. Together with mom and dad, we spent a lot of time. They went to rest at camping sites, outside the city, celebrated all the holidays, gathering with their relatives. My aunt often joked that in 15 years I had turned from a small bald baby into a long-legged beauty with a thin waist and thick hair. Dad and mom always smiled at these words. They were so proud of their daughter. We were always together throughout our lives, we died together. That Russian rocket that flew into the house on Peremoza on the afternoon of January 14 destroyed my family. There is no more me, my optimistic father, my caring mother, grandfather, aunt and her husband. And instead of a cozy apartment of my relatives, there was just a huge hole in that house. “I spent the last month of my life in a shelter” Ilya Cheh, 9 years old Chernihiv, March 20, 2022 Ilya Cheh Hello everyone! My name is Ilya, I am 9 years old, and I come from Chernihiv. I spent the last month of my life in a shelter together with my family. My hometown was constantly shelled by the Russian military. We were going to leave in the middle of March. But we didn’t have time – a Russian shell exploded next to my family, we didn’t have time to go down to the shelter. Mom, dad and I were injured. I died, although the doctors fought for me for another day. My relatives survived. Since childhood, I loved that my mother read books to me. Her voice was simply enchanting. I grew up active, so I did gymnastics, I always showed my mother all the sports exercises so that she could repeat them after me. And my father and I went to work out on horizontal bars. To curb my energy, a few months before my death, my parents sent me to a hip-hop section. I was so happy about it, especially when I went on stage for the first time. We dreamed of getting a cup, the teacher promised that she would take us to the competition in the spring of 2022. But you know what happened to me and my dreams at that time… At school, teachers considered me inquisitive, gentle and sensitive. They kindly called Ilyusha. I had many friends among my classmates. Tried to get involved in all extracurricular activities – took part in events and went on excursions. In our free time from studying, my parents and I walked around the city, went on picnics, and rested in the forest and on the river. I liked to throw stones into the water. I always found a branch and swung it like a real ninja. My mother and father were not told about my death for several weeks, because they were in a serious condition after the shelling. And although now their bodies are gradually recovering after that attack, their hearts are full of sadness for me. They still don’t know how to live without their Ilyusha. “My mother still remembers how she screamed when she saw my body” Rostyslav Pichkur, 13 years old, village of Buzova, Kyiv region, February 28, 2022 Rostyslav Pichkur Greetings, I’m Rostyk. I am 13. My family lived in Kyiv when the Russian army invaded Ukraine. My parents decided that our high-rise was now unsafe, so we moved into our country house. However, I had to flee from there. During the attempt to evacuate, our car was shot from a Russian tank. We managed to jump out and hide in the forest. But soon there was another explosion that took my life. In addition to my parents, my grandparents, aunt and godfather were there. Fortunately, they were saved. I studied in the 7th grade of the school with an advanced study of German. Until the 5th grade, he was even an excellent student. I grew up as an obedient, polite, kind and generous child. As mom says: the perfect son. One of my biggest passions is sports. A few months before my death, I received a red belt in taekwondo. He went swimming and played football with his friends. Dad and I played arcade games, went karting. The whole family went fishing, picked mushrooms. After school, my grandmother often treated me to my favorite fast food, and my grandfather let me fix his car together. Cars were my passion. I dreamed of a BMW. It turns out that dad wanted to give it to me for my coming of age. I didn’t know that and I never will. But it would be the best gift ever! But until I had a real car, I collected collectible models. Unfortunately, they all burned in our car, which was shot from a tank. My mother was almost 6 months pregnant at the time. I was so happy when I found out I was going to have a brother! I always went to the ultrasound, I wanted to be the first to find out how the little one was doing. But I did not have time to see and meet him. He was born 4 months after my death. He was named Yaroslav, I chose this name. My relatives are very sad without me. My mother still remembers how she screamed when she saw my body. Now they are devastated, but they continue to live for my beloved Yarik. The text was prepared by the memorial platform Memorial, which tells the stories of civilians killed by Russia and dead Ukrainian soldiers, especially for the UP. To report data on Ukraine’s losses, fill out the forms: for dead military and civilian victims. Natalia Kulidi, Maria Morozova, specially for UP. Life

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