War and bombing does not discriminate in lives taken. On Sunday, April 24, the city of Odessa was attacked by seven Russian rockets, one of which “hit a residential building,” according to Ukrainian authorities. According to the latest report, eight people were killed in the attack. Eight dead, including Yuriy Glodan’s mother, wife and 3-month-old baby.
“My world was destroyed by a Russian missile,” he confides to the BBC. If he testifies, it will be “so the world will know what happened to his family.”
“I would like to know when my family threatened Russia?”
This young father’s life changed on the morning of that disastrous Sunday. Yuriy had gone shopping. On his return, he discovers that his building has been destroyed by Russian rocket fire. From afar he sees that the rockets have hit his apartment and falls into the rubble.
Help is already on site and the body of his wife Valeria is quickly put back together, then that of his mother. A few hours later, his 3-month-old granddaughter Kira is discovered. “Those who did this are bastards. I would like to know when my family threatened Russia?” he asks.
Yuriy was in a relationship with Valeria for 9 years. “She could find joy in everything. Odessa was her favorite city (…) She was a wonderful mother, a friend with the best qualities. It will be impossible for me to find someone like Valeria. She was perfect. Such a person can given to you only once in a lifetime and it is a gift from God,” says Yuriy.
Their daughter Kira was born in January, a month before the war began. “We were so happy when she was born,” he says. “I was in the maternity ward when I gave birth. It’s very difficult for me to realize that my daughter and my wife are gone.”
“What is happening is a sorrow for my family, for our city, for Ukraine, it is a sorrow for the entire civilization. I hope that spreading our story will help end this war,” concludes Yuriy.