Russia Attacks Ukraine - 23 Feb 2022 **Media Thread** NO DISCUSSION #3

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Live Updates | Police: Over 900 civilians dead in Kyiv area | AP News
1 hour ago rbbm.
''LVIV, Ukraine — The bodies of more than 900 civilians were discovered in the Kyiv region following the withdrawal of Russian forces, the regional police chief said in a briefing Friday.

Andriy Nebytov, the head of Kyiv’s regional police force, said the bodies had been abandoned in the streets or given temporary burials. He cited police data indicating that 95% of the casualties had died from sniper fire and gunshot wounds.

“Consequently, we understand that under the (Russian) occupation, people were simply executed in the streets,” Nebytov said. “The number of killed civilians has surpassed 900 — and I emphasize, these are civilians, whose bodies we have discovered and handed over for forensic examination.”

He added that more bodies were being found every day, under the rubble and in mass graves.

“The most victims were found in Bucha, where there are more than 350 corpses,” he said.''

"According to Nebytov, utilities workers in Bucha had been gathering up and burying bodies in the Kyiv suburb while it remained under Russian control. Nebytov added that Russian troops were “tracking down” people who expressed strong pro-Ukrainian views.''

 

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April 15 2022
Russia-Ukraine war live updates: Moscow vows renewed attacks on Kyiv after warship sinks (nbcnews.com)
''Ukraine says Russia used long-range bombers on Mariupol
4h ago / 9:29 AM EDT
Ukraine’s defense ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said on Friday that for, the first time since the start of its invasion, Russia used long-range bombers to attack the besieged port city of Mariupol.
Motuzyanyk said Russia was concentrating its efforts on seizing the cities of Rubizhne, Popasna and Mariupol.''

''Seven people died when Russian servicemen fired on buses as they were evacuating civilians on Thursday, the office of Ukraine’s attorney general said in a statement posted to its Telegram channel.

Another 27 people were injured in the incident which took place in Borova, a small village around 35 miles south of Kyiv, the statement, translated by NBC News, said.

NBC News could not independently verify the claims and Russia has repeatedly denied it is targeting civilians.''

France's Le Pen warns against sending weapons to Ukraine | AP News
''PARIS (AP) — French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen warned Wednesday against sending any more weapons to Ukraine, and called for a rapprochement between NATO and Russia once Moscow’s war in Ukraine winds down.

Le Pen, an outspoken nationalist who has long ties to Russia, also confirmed that if she unseats President Emmanuel Macron in France’s April 24 presidential runoff, she will pull France out of NATO’s military command and dial back French support for the whole European Union.''

 

[PommyMommy]

Loss of Moskva strikes serious blow to Russian military’s prestige

Analysis: ship’s sinking will shock Russian public and is latest sign war in Ukraine will not end soon

As Russian media and officials struggled on Friday to explain the sinking of the country’s Black Sea flagship, it was clear that the loss of the cruiser and an untold number of its estimated 510 crew was a blow to Vladimir Putin’s war plans and his military’s prestige.

From the beginning, the Russian government tried to play down what had happened. At first its defence ministry claimed an accident had caused a fire onboard. Then the ministry said the damage had been contained and the ship was being towed to port in Sevastopol. Finally, late on Thursday, the ministry announced that the ship had sunk in “stormy seas”.

But even as commentators on state TV tried to spin the loss of the Moskva as a temporary setback, Russians could understand that something serious had taken place.

(...)

The scale of the loss is yet to be seen. Ukraine claims it struck the Moskva with a Neptune anti-ship missile. No pictures of the Moskva or its crew have been published in Russian media since the ship was damaged. Some western reports suggest just dozens of the estimated 500 crew-members were rescued as the ship went down. Russia has not published any official information about the number of sailors who died.

So unlikely was the loss of the ship in Moscow’s eyes that in 2020 Orthodox Christian officials said it had been designated to carry a piece of the “true cross,” a relic from the wooden cross on which Jesus Christ is said to have been crucified.

At the very least it will strike yet another blow at the image of the Russian military as a professional force carrying out what the Kremlin calls a “special operation” on the territory of Ukraine.

(...)

But the scale of the losses onboard the Moskva will doubtless shock the Russian public, which has been told repeatedly, like Putin, that the war in Ukraine is going to plan. The sinking is just the latest indication that the conflict will not end soon.

 

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"However, Ukrainian sources have said that there is a real worry that there were several nuclear missiles onboard the vessel which sank off Sevastopol.

BlackSeaNews editor-in-chief Andriy Klymenko called for an urgent international probe into whether the Moskva was carrying nuclear weapons.

"Friends and experts say that there are two nuclear warheads for cruise missiles on board the Moskva,” he said."

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/fears-russian-flagship-moskva-nukes-26718389

Sailors from Moskva have not yet collected their cars at Sevastopol naval base amid concern over their fate

 

[PommyMommy]

Russian Authorities Reveal Where Anti-Putin Shaman Is Being Forcibly Confined

Aleksandr Gabyshev, a shaman (a folk healer, a medicine man) from Chita, started, in 2019, a walk on Moscow, “to drive Putin out of Kremlin”. It really sounded as a joke, but the government took it seriously. The shaman has been forcibly confined to the psychiatric hospital of the “harsh” type, and groups like Amnesty International are protesting it. Gabyshev is in Wiki now.

And another piece of news. A homeless man living in Myass (Ural area) was arrested for trying to dry his wet socks on the “Eternal Flame” (a type of memorial, common in Europe; in Russia mostly to those fallen in WWII). The hapless dude was accused of “propaganda of Nazism” and is facing either a huge fine, or up to three years of prison…

 

[PommyMommy]

April 15 2022 rbbm.
'This is what we trained for:' Soldiers depart to help humanitarian crisis in Europe | CP24.com

Eighty soldiers from across 3rd Canadian Division board a plane while deploying to Poland to join the lead elements already in that country as part of the Government of Canada's response to the war in Ukraine, in Edmonton, Friday April 15, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

''Dozens of Canadian soldiers boarded a plane to Poland Friday for what their commander said would be an intense but gratifying mission to help Ukrainians fleeing Russian aggression.

The roughly 80 soldiers who took off from Edmonton and another 20 from Trenton, Ont., will offer humanitarian assistance at reception centres throughout Poland, said Maj. Ryan Pridmore, a company commander with 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry.

They, along with a Canadian medical unit, are to support the Polish Territorial Defence Force on a two-month mission.''

''We do have a team in place over there who's setting the stage so we're not rolling in blind but it'll definitely be a pretty quick start to business once we get on the ground."

On Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said in Calgary it's appropriate to declare Russia's occupation a genocide – as U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have said – since thousands of Ukrainians have been killed and brutalized.

Freeland pointed to a "chilling document" on a Russian website published 10 days ago "that effectively laid out a plan for genocide in Ukraine, that called for the suffering, the punishment of people who chose, in the view of this document, wrongly and mistakenly to describe themselves as Ukrainian."

"I was very pleased to see that the morale was exceptionally high and, from my observation, I'd say the task force is going to be very effective in Poland."

 

[PommyMommy]

There are fears that sunken Russian warship The Moskva that is now believed to be resting at the bottom of the Black Sea was carrying nuclear weapons.

https://www.news.com.au/world/europ...ws-story/959170261e82bd43b5eb3c37fabf8dcd?amp

The relatives of the doomed crew of Russia's Black Sea flagship Moskva defied Russian censors to hold an unofficial memorial today, as Ukraine claimed that all 510 servicemen onboard died - including the ship's captain…

Meanwhile, Mykhailo Samus, director of a Lviv-based military think-tank; Andriy Klymenko, editor of Black Sea News; and Ukrainian newspaper Defence Express all warned that the Moskva could have been carrying two nuclear warheads designed to be fitted to its P-1000 'carrier killer' missiles.

If true, the loss of the warheads into the Black Sea could spark a 'Broken Arrow' incident - American military slang for potentially lethal accidents involving nuclear weapons.

'On board the Moskva could be nuclear warheads - two units,' Samus said, while Klymenko called on other Black Sea nations - Turkey, Romania, Georgia, and Bulgaria - to insist on an explanation. 'Where are these warheads? Where were they when the ammunition exploded,' he asked.

'To the sailors': Relatives of doomed Moskva crew defy Russian censors with unofficial memorial | Daily Mail Online

 

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In an unprecedented move, Russia has been expelled from the UN Human Rights Council

 

[PommyMommy]

Update – Russian Navy Movements In Black Sea April 15
Since the sinking, Russia’s reaction has been subject to speculation. At around 6.30pm local time on April 15 a radar satellite covered Crimea. Two formations of Russian Navy warships, likely including Landing ships, are seen steaming northwest. Their direction suggests that they are sailing towards the Ukrainian coast.

There is also increased activity near to the naval base of Sevastopol. This subsequently died down, implying that the vessels had left Sevastopol. It is possible that a fresh operation is underway.

Satellite Image Pinpoints Russian Cruiser Moskva As She Burned - Naval News

 

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Ukraine braces for revenge attacks from Russia after Moskva sinking

Ukraine has said it is bracing itself for revenge attacks from Russia after the “significant and symbolic” sinking of Russia’s flagship cruiser, the Moskva.

The government in Kyiv said it had destroyed the giant missile cruiser during a combat operation against Russian vessels in the Black Sea on Wednesday. The boat’s ammunition deck exploded after it was hit by two Neptune anti-ship missiles, it added.

(...)

From 2am a Turkish ship managed to rescue 54 sailors. An hour later Turkey and Romania confirmed the ship had “completely sunk”. Ukrainian officials said stormy weather stopped Russian boats from carrying out an evacuation, adding: “Nature was on our side.”

The Kremlin has not given any details on possible casualties among the 510 crew of the Moskva, and has not released any photographs of the stricken ship.

An article published by the Tass state-run news agency initially claimed the “entire crew” had been evacuated. It was later edited to remove the word “entire”. One unconfirmed Ukrainian report said 14 sailors including the chief of Moskva’s medical service were taken to the Crimean port of Sevastopol. The fate of the other 494 was unknown, it said. If they are confirmed to have drowned it would amount to the largest number of deaths of Russian servicemen in a single incident since the second world war.

Anton Gerashchenko, a Ukrainian interior ministry adviser who has a popular Telegram channel, posted a photo of the Moskva’s captain, Anton Kuprin. Kuprin was killed during the explosion and fire on the ship, Gerashchenko claimed.

It was Kuprin who gave the order for the Moskva to shell Snake Island in the Black Sea during the first hours of Moscow’s invasion. Its Ukrainian defenders refused to surrender and said: “Russian warship ‘go f--- yourself’” – a slogan that has become a national meme

(...)

Russia has said it is investigating what caused the Moskva to sink. Its defence ministry has promised to bomb targets in Kyiv in response to what it said were “terrorist and sabotage” attacks on its territory carried out by Ukraine’s “nationalist regime”.

(...)

On Russian television, hosts and pundits came perilously close to admitting that the loss of the cruiser was the result of an enemy attack as opposed to the result of an accident onboard. They also talked in vehement terms about wiping out “Ukraine-ness”.

(...)

The last time Russia lost its flagship cruiser was in 1904, when the imperial vessel Petropavlovsk went down in the tsar’s war with Japan. Ukrainian officials acknowledge the sinking of the Moskva does not mean Russia is beaten. But they see it as a signal event.

(...)

 

[PommyMommy]

Russian Bombers Just Carpet-Bombed Mariupol (forbes.com)
Russian air force Tu-22M bombers flew into Ukrainian air space on Thursday and dropped unguided bombs on Ukrainian troops in the besieged city of Mariupol, on the Sea of Azov coast.

It was the first time the 120-ton, swing-wing, supersonic bombers directly have raided Ukraine since Russia widened its war on the country starting the night of Feb. 23. Before the Mariupol mission, the Tu-22Ms attacked Ukraine without leaving Russian air space—by firing long-range cruise missiles.

The bombing run, which was recorded by a Russian drone and later confirmed by Ukrainian officials, could indicate that the Kremlin is running low on cruise missiles.

[...]

The drone footage of the Tu-22M raid clearly depicts a stick of gravity bombs exploding on the campus of the Azovstal steel plant on the eastern outskirts of Mariupol.

Around 160,000 civilians are trapped in the ruins of Mariupol. Thousands more have died. “The humanitarian situation in the city is worsening,” the U.K. Defense Ministry warned. “Most of the 160,000 remaining residents have no light, communication, medicine, heat or water.”

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

Russia-Ukraine war latest: Russian warship sunk by Ukraine missile strike, say US officials; bodies of 900 civilians found in Kyiv region – live (theguardian.com)

29m ago 21.03
Zelenskiy has spoken to CNN, saying the world should be prepared for the possibility that Russia decides to use nuclear or chemical weapons against Ukraine.

He said the Russians could do it because Putin did not value the lives of the people.

“We should think not be afraid, not be afraid but be ready. But that is not a question for Ukraine, not only for Ukraine but for all the world, I think,” he said.

US officials have warned of the potential for Putin to use nuclear weapons in the conflict.

“Given the potential desperation of President Putin and the Russian leadership, given the setbacks that they’ve faced so far militarily, none of us can take lightly the threat posed by a potential resort to tactical nuclear weapons or low yield nuclear weapons,” CIA Director Bill Burn said on Thursday.

Zelenskiy also said his information was that about 2,500-3,000 Ukrainian military personnel had been killed, and Russia’s military had lost about 19,000-20,000. He said about 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers were injured, some seriously.

 

[PommyMommy]

APR 14, 2022
War Crimes Watch: The woman who would make Putin pay | AP News

The messages, reports from across Ukraine, scroll in real time:

One civilian dead.

Thirteen military casualties.

Five civilians injured.

Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova glances at her cell phone. The stark numbers and bare-bones accounts that unreel in her hand are just the start; her staff will catalog them, investigate them -- and try to bring the Russian perpetrators of war crimes to justice.

This is her purpose: To make Vladimir Putin and his forces pay for what they have done. While courts around the world are working to hold Russia accountable, the bulk of the investigation – and the largest number of prosecutions – will likely be done by Ukraine itself.

For Venediktova, this is personal.

“I protect the public interest of Ukrainian citizens. And now I see that I can’t protect these dead kids,” she says. “And for me it’s pain.”

 

[PommyMommy]

Russia-Ukraine war latest: Ukraine PM to head to Washington; Russian warship sunk by Ukraine missile strike, say US officials – live

Russia targets Ukrainian missile factory following the sinking of its Black Sea flagship.

The Vizar factory, near Kyiv’s international airport, was reported seriously damaged in the overnight strikes, AFP reports.

Ukraine’s state weapons manufacturer says the plant produced Neptune cruise missiles, at least one of which Ukraine says were used to sink the Moskva warship.

Russia said it had used sea-based long-range missiles to hit the plant.

Andrei Sizov, the 47-year-old owner of a nearby wood workshop, told AFP:

"There were five hits. My employee was in the office and got thrown off his feet by the blast. They are making us pay for destroying the Moskva."

(...)

Also:
Production buildings of armoured vehicle plant have been destroyed in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, says Russia’s defence ministry.

A military repair facility was also destroyed in the city of Mykolaiv, reports the Interfax news agency, quoting Russia’s defence ministry.

Russia says the strikes were carried out by high-precision long-range weapons. Russia also downed one Ukrainian SU-25 aircraft near Kharkiv Oblast, in eastern Ukraine, Interfax news agency reports.

 

[PommyMommy]

APR 15, 2022
Russia formally protests US weapons shipments to Ukraine - CNNPolitics
Russia this week formally protested the US' ongoing shipment of weapons to Ukraine, sending a diplomatic note to the State Department warning of "unpredictable consequences" should the support continue, according to two US officials and another source familiar with the document.

The note, known as a demarche, was sent earlier this week as the US was preparing to announce that it would be sending an additional $800 million military aid package to Ukraine. The Washington Post first reported on the document.

The US has for the first time agreed to provide Kyiv with the types of high-power capabilities some Biden administration officials a few short weeks ago viewed as too great of an escalation risk a few short weeks ago, including 11 Mi-17 helicopters, 18 155 mm Howitzer cannons and 300 more Switchblade drones.

A source familiar with the Russian diplomatic note said it was expected that Moscow would protest the shipments, and it was still unclear whether it means Russia will change its behavior in any way. But this person acknowledged that the note could signal a more aggressive Russian posture against the US and NATO as the war drags on.

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
70% of Severodonetsk destroyed. Head of the Severodonetsk Civil Military Administration Oleksandr Striuk said on April 15 that Severodonetsk is under heavy fire by Russian forces and that only around 20,000 residents of the total 135,000 remain in the city.

Severodonetsk - Google Maps

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Russia launches rocket attacks on Poltava, Kirovohrad, Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv oblasts overnight. Also, shelling took place in in Kherson, Kharkiv, Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts, according to local governors. Deaths and injuries have been reported.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Lviv Oblast governor: Air defense forces intercept Russian missiles in early morning of April 16. Four missiles were deployed by a Sukhoi Su-35 aircraft, according to Maksym Kozytskyi, governor and head of the regional military administration.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
UK Defense Ministry: Roads sustain serious damage in parts of Ukraine formerly besieged by Russia, making it a "significant challenge." Russians also destroyed bridges, left land mines and abandoned vehicles along key routes as they withdrew from northern Ukraine.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Deputy PM: 9 humanitarian corridors agreed for April 16. The five evacuation routes from Luhansk Oblast will open if Russian shelling stops. Residents of Mariupol, Berdyansk, Tokmak and Energodar must go on their own cars as buses can't pass due to the road condition.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Mariupol official: Russian occupiers preparing to close Mariupol, prohibit movements from April 18 to 'filter' local men. According to advisor to the mayor of Mariupol, the plan is to recruit some for the Russian army, send others to clear the rubble, isolate unreliable ones.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Overnight missile strike in Kyiv kills at least one person. Several people were hospitalised and doctors are now fighting for their lives, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko. The site of the attack hasn't been disclosed for security reasons.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
Luhansk Oblast Governor: Russian forces shell oil refinery in Lysychansk. Serhiy Haidai said that a fire broke out in an area of 5,000 square meters following the morning attack. Shelling continues in residential areas of Lysychansk, and locals are asked to remain in shelters.

The Kyiv Independent on Twitter
More than 10,000 volunteers register to help rebuild Ukraine. The volunteers currently work in the demined areas of Kyiv Oblast. They are cleaning the streets by picking up dismantled debris and participating in the search operations, according to the State Emergency Service.

 

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Euromaidan Press on Twitter
Storks return to Ukraine. The stork is very sacred to Ukrainians, a symbol of spring, new life & peace As we watch them soar across the blue sky or land lightly on nests, we ask that they bring victory & peace We welcome them & hope for better & happier times #StandWithUkraine

Euromaidan Press on Twitter
Russia has amassed 22 battalion-tactical groups (should be roughly 15,000 troops) near Izium in Kharkiv Oblast. An offensive towards Sloviansk from Izium is possible. The intensity of shelling in Donbas near Severodonetsk has increased - General Staff
https://facebook.com/GeneralStaff.ua/posts/295827436063675

Euromaidan Press on Twitter
Irpin, Kyiv suburb, almost 1,060 buildings sustained damage visible on the satellite imagery. Out of these, 115 are destroyed, and 698 are severely damaged. That means at least 1/3 of the buildings of the city can be hardly repaired. https://unitar.org/maps/map/3525

Euromaidan Press on Twitter
Russian troops are ready for the offensive in Donbas and can start when the rain ends. Meanwhile, they continue attempts for local advances, are shelling settlements "to destroy so that there is nothing left to defend, like Mariupol"—Luhansk Oblast head https://t.me/luhanskaVTSA/1632

Euromaidan Press on Twitter - Video
A video shows Rubizhne in Luhansk Oblast is destroyed just like Mariupol. The town is partly occupied while active street fighting continues. The towns of Popasna and Volnovakha are also heavily shelled with most of the buildings destroyed or damaged.

Euromaidan Press on Twitter
Russian troops have again shelled the oil refinery in Lysychansk in Donbas. Yet, there is no fuel. The remains of oil sludge are burning. Russians repeatedly shell this refinery to exhaust firefighters, Luhansk Oblast Head said. https://t.me/luhanskaVTSA/1650

Ukraine soldier Volodymyr Hordienko escaped from the Russian captivity but his car was shelled and he was wounded. For two days he was walking with a splinter in heart & pneumothorax and arrived. Doctors of Feofania hospital saved him after a 5-hour operation. https://facebook.com/moz.ukr/posts/354785386675684

 

[PommyMommy]

British secret services: 'Russians deliberately blow up bridges'

' The supply of relief supplies for the Ukrainian population is being hampered by Russian troops deliberately destroying part of the infrastructure, British secret services report in their daily report on the security situation.
For example, after their withdrawal from northern Ukraine, the Russians purposefully blew up bridges and damaged roads and other infrastructure, British security services said.

There are also many land mines around roads and vehicles have been left in the middle of the road. In the city of Chernihiv, northeast of Kiev, only one pedestrian bridge over the Desna River has been left intact. All other river crossings have been blown up, the British said.'

Britse geheime diensten: Russen blazen opzettelijk bruggen op

 

[PommyMommy]

APR 15, 2022
Russia justifies murder of Ukrainians in its 2022 “genocide handbook” | Euromaidan Press
EDITOR'S NOTE: Holocaust historian Timothy Snyder called the Russian infamous declaration “What Russia should do to Ukraine” published on 3 April 2022 a “genocide handbook”. The text justifies the Russian murder of Ukrainians and the destruction of the Ukrainian nation, testifying an intent to destroy a specific group, which falls under the legal definition of genocide.

[...]

Step 1. Justifying the murder of Ukrainians by equating them with Nazis
The starting point for the text is to claim that the whole of the Ukrainian society are Nazis:

“De-nazification is necessary when a sizable part of the population – most likely, the majority – has mastered and drawn in the Nazi regime into its politics.”

[...]

Step 2. Outlining a detailed plan for the destruction of Ukrainians and the Ukrainian state and genocide in Ukraine
As during the Soviet repressions, Russian propaganda divides Ukrainians into those who must be killed (either immediately or slowly through forced labor) and those who still can be “re-educated,”–i.e. “cleansed” from the Ukrainian identity and subjugated to Russian imperialist identity.

First, we consider “the elite”, people active in political and cultural matters. Sergeyev insists this group“must be liquidated, its re-education is impossible.”

“- lustration, publication of the names…involving them in forced labor to restore the destroyed infrastructure as punishment (who will not be subject to the death penalty or imprisonment);

– liquidation of any armed formations of Ukraine, including the Armed Forces of Ukraine”

[...]

Step 3. Uniting Russians by denying the existence of independent Ukraine and pushing the idea of Russian “unique mission” in the West
The text further aims to unite Russians through a sense of righteousness in their crimes against the independent state by assertions that they are “winners” who have both “absolute control” over the “denazification process” and the “power to ensure it.” The “loser” is said to be guilty (of being Ukrainian) and any other views are precluded by claims that “the ideology of the denazifier cannot be disputed” and that “the denazified country cannot be sovereign.”

The text states that since 2014 – due to Russia’s war against Ukraine – Russian society achieved “internal cohesion and a conscious unambiguous mass refusal to maintain any unity and connection with Ukraine.”

[...]

 

[PommyMommy]

APR 14, 2022
’Collect my parents or collect my son’s body’: a Kyiv family’s tragic plight | Ukraine | The Guardian
The day Russian troops invaded Ukraine, 18-year-old Oleksandr Ivanov was shot in the forehead and 10 times in the chest while in the passenger seat of his grandmother’s car. They had been driving to Hostomel, outside Kyiv, to pick up his grandfather and bring him to the capital.

Oleksandr, known as Sasha, did not have the life of an ordinary 18-year-old. His mother, Sveta, was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy when Sasha was three. Sasha had spent his life taking care of her, helping her dress, wash and go to the toilet.

Sasha had a natural love of learning, according to his family. From when he started to talk, he loved reciting poetry. At the age of seven he asked if he could learn to play the piano. Despite finishing music school with honours, he decided to study medicine. He attained full marks in Ukraine’s national high school exams for chemistry and biology and was given a scholarship to Ukraine’s best medical school, in Kyiv. Another top university, Taras Shevchenko University, also in Kyiv, rang his mother to complain when they heard he would not be coming to them.

Sasha planned to become a neurosurgeon to help cure his mother’s disease, his family said. The bookshelves in Sasha’s bedroom in Kyiv are filled with thick textbooks and encyclopedias. For his birthday last year he asked for two books, Robert Brooker’s Genetics: Analysis and Principles and the British Medical Association’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary. His mother ordered them from abroad.

[...]

“There are children who like football or wrestling. My child loved books, chess and playing the piano, but no one ever forced him to study. But please don’t think he was stuck up. He’d plant potatoes with Granny, fix the roof with his grandad and change his cousin’s nappies. He was a simple, simple boy.”

[...]