The child's mother died in the July 14 explosion and was identified days later only through a DNA test.
Trigger Warning: This article contains graphic details of war injuries that may be distressing to readers.
A 7-year-old boy from Ukraine was severely injured after a Russian missile strike earlier this month. The boy, who was identified as Roman, was with his mother in central Ukraine's city of Vinnytsia when the strike occurred. Sadly, his mother died in the explosion and was identified days later only through a DNA test as Galyna Oleksiv. She was one of at least 23 people killed in the July 14th attack.
Missile Strike in Ukraine Leaves 7-Year-Old Boy Motherless, Severely Burned https://t.co/LrYSV3FPnF
— People (@people) July 27, 2022
The boy's father Yaroslav Oleksiv said, "All the bodies they found from this shock wave, they were all badly burned...many had their limbs ripped off. None of the bodies remained fully intact," he continued, per CBS News.
However, "the explosion threw [Roman's] body and that ended up saving him," Yaroslav told Current Time. "He was picked up right away and an ambulance arrived immediately," he added.
But the explosion had an impact and Roman suffered burns on nearly half his body. The Medical Association of Lviv said that about 45% of his body is covered in external burns and that another 35% of his body is burned internally.
"[The burns] are so deep in places that they even reach bones," the post said. "Burn face, upper and lower limbs, airway ... a closed fracture of his left hand and several shell fractures in his skull."
Yaroslav said his son was conscious at the time following the blast and was able to say his name when he was picked up. He also managed to tell those helping that he was with his mother at the time of the attack and that she was underneath the rubble. "The doctors said they found some fabric with some writing on it. We knew that [Roman's mother] had a T-shirt like that. ... Plus, she had braces, and we could [identify her] by the braces."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy called the strike "an open act of terrorism" against civilians. "Every day Russia is destroying the civilian population, killing Ukrainian children, directing missiles at civilian objects. Where there is no military (targets). What is it if not an open act of terrorism?" Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram messaging app. So far, around 23 people, including some children, were killed in the attack and over 90 people were injured.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine is a developing story, and we’ll update as we learn more. Information is swiftly changing and WomenWorking is committed to providing the most recent and verified updates in our articles and reportage. However, considering the frequency in developments, some of the information/data in this article may have changed since the time of publication.
References:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ukraine-news-war-russia-missile-strike-vinnytsia-child-among-17-killed/
https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-child-victim-attack-russia-germany-/31959076.html
Representational Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Paravee Sa-L | EyeEm
