"I recognized the luggage": Man learns about the death of his family in Ukraine on the Internet
Created: 03/12/2022, 07:16
By: Kathrin Reikowski
Near a destroyed bridge in Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Serhiy Perebyinis` family died.
© Felipe Dana / dpa / AP
Ukraine War: He was in eastern Ukraine when his family died near Kyiv.
The night before, Serhiy Perebyinis had called his wife for the last time.
New York/Kyiv - They had already moved to Kyiv from eastern Ukraine in 2014, when pro-Russian activists proclaimed the Donetsk and Luhansk regions as people's republics and fighting broke out there.
Eight years later, last Sunday, the mother and her children died in the escalated Ukraine conflict near Kyiv.
Serhiy Perebyinis, the father, had visited his own mother in eastern Ukraine to take care of her.
He found out about the death of his family from social media.
"I recognized the luggage (in photos), so I knew about it," the man told the
New York Times
.
His family died when a projectile apparently landed just meters away.
In addition to the 43-year-old mother, Tetiana, her nine-year-old daughter, 18-year-old son and a helper also died on Sunday.
The images of her death went around the world over the weekend.
Irpin/near Kyiv, Ukraine: The death of a family while fleeing was documented on Sunday March 6 and went viral around the world via Twitter.
© picture alliance/dpa/EUROPA PRESS |
Diego Herrera
War in Ukraine: "Don't worry," his wife said on the last phone call
On the night of Sunday he spoke to his wife for the last time, said Serhiy Perebyis, who had worked as a programmer in Kyiv.
Shortly after the war began, the first bombs fell in the neighborhood and the mother moved into the basement with her children.
A few days earlier, Tetiana had returned from a skiing holiday in Georgia.
But his wife Tetiana, an accountant, assured him that everything would be fine.
"Forgive me for not being able to protect you," Serhiy said to his wife Tetiana on the phone when his mother called from eastern Ukraine.
"I was trying to take care of someone else and that means I can't protect you." His wife then said, "Don't worry, I'll make it out."
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War in Ukraine: Man stopped by Russian border guards on return journey
According to the report, after the news of his family's death, the man returned to Kyiv, which also took him through Russia and Poland.
He was initially stopped by Russian border officials at the Russian-Polish border.
Before continuing his journey, he had to answer questions.
But he told the officials:
"My entire family died in what you call special operations and we call war.
You can do whatever you want with me.
I have nothing left to lose.”
Programmer from Kyiv
On Friday morning, videos from the western Ukrainian city of Lusk showed a fireball in the sky: the city is 100 kilometers from the border with Poland.
(dpa/kat)
