"Pain of thousands": what we know so far about those killed or injured in Russian strike on Ternopil
At least 26 people, including three children, were killed in a recent Russian strike on an apartment block in the city of Ternopil. Around 100 people sustained injuries in the attack. Search and rescue operations are still underway.
Ukrainska Pravda.Zhyttia (Life) has gathered together all that is currently known about those killed and injured in the attack.
The strike killed 17-year-old Ruslan Bobyk, who was a student at the Ivan Puliui Professional College in Ternopil.
Ruslan's college supervisor, Iryna Onishchuk, told a local news outlet that Ruslan was known at the college as a kind, sincere and extraordinarily cheerful young man.
"Ruslan really loved cars and engines – he knew literally everything about them," Onishchuk said. "He was proactive, kind, sincere, funny and full of life. He got along easily with everyone.
He had lots of friends, not only in his group, but across the entire college. Every morning he would come in and always ask how everyone was doing. He was incredibly cheerful. And I don't know how to accept the fact that he's no longer with us," she added.
Onishchuk said that as soon as the air-raid warning sounded that morning, she wrote to her students and separately to their parents to check they were safe. An hour later, Ruslan's mother called to say he was dead.
The strike also killed 39-year-old Vitalii Dolyniak and his 5-year-old son Davyd. Vitalii's wife, Tetiana, and the couple's two daughters, Anna and Kateryna, survived but are currently in hospital.
Friends and colleagues of Vitalii posted the tragic news on social media.
"We can't believe you're gone. You loved your girls so much, and you loved your little boy just as deeply," Ivan Rudak wrote.
"It was painful for me to look into your mother's eyes today, and your grandma's… but I couldn't bring myself to look into the eyes of your girls and your wife Tania, because they don't know yet that you are no longer with us," he added.
The Dolyniak family is in urgent need of financial assistance.
Oksana Tsiapalo and her father, Ihor Nespliak, were also killed in the Russian attack on Ternopil. Oksana's daughter, Anastasiia, and her mother, Tetiana Nespliak, sustained severe burns and are now in intensive care. The family is raising funds for medical treatment and for the funeral, according to local resident Svitlana Nakonechna, who posted the information on Facebook.
The attack also claimed the life of Olena Unolt, a hairdresser and the daughter of Liudmyla Chervinska, a People's Artist of Ukraine (a nationally honoured artist recognised for exceptional services to culture). Olena is survived by two daughters: Adriana, a middle-school student, and Yeva, a high-school student. Both are in intensive care. The family is in need of financial support.
The missile strike also killed Yurii Baiko, the son of a teacher from Ternopil School No. 19. He is survived by his wife and two daughters. They, too, need financial assistance.
Teacher Olha Drozd and technical staff member Svitlana Kutsa, both from the same school, were also injured. They are currently in hospital. The school has launched a fundraising campaign to support Olha and Svitlana.
Tetiana Matskiv and her four-year-old daughter Sofiia are still being searched for under the rubble. Tetiana's nine-year-old son, Maksym, was taken to hospital and has undergone an operation. The family lived on the eighth floor of the destroyed residential building, according to Tetiana's childhood friend, Yuliia Yushkevych. They are in urgent need of financial support.
Rescue workers are now on their second day of searching for an 86-year-old woman who lived on the fifth floor. Her great-grandson is anxiously waiting for any word of her.
Iryna, a nurse at the Ternopil Oblast Children's Clinical Hospital, has seen her apartment destroyed. Her family has been left without a home or any basic necessities and are in need of assistance, said Taras Pylypchuk, Deputy Medical Director for outpatient services at the hospital.
"In a matter of seconds, their apartment was turned into rubble – and with it went their usual sense of calm, safety and stability," a social media post reads.
"They have been left without a home, without clothes, without even the most basic things, but most importantly – thank God – she and her little son are alive."
Ruslan Nimashchuk and his family have also been left homeless. Ruslan is a widower raising two sons on his own. The family has lost everything they owned, his brother Volodymyr Nimashchuk said. Help can be offered through the link he provided.
The Hotsko family – a mother and her three-month-old baby – were also injured in the attack, according to a family friend, blogger Lidiia Kosharska, who shared the information on Instagram. They have lost everything they owned and are in need of financial assistance.
Background: Earlier, a 20-year-old man was pulled alive from the rubble of the building.
Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!