This 82-year-old woman fled from the Nazis.
Now escape from the Russians 3:00
Lviv, Ukraine (CNN) —
All Vladimir Nesterenko wanted to do when he grew up was play basketball.
The 12-year-old brown-haired boy dribbled and shot hoops with his father Oleh in the village where they lived in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine.
He idolized NBA legend Michael Jordan.
His mother, Julia Nesterenko, was happy to encourage the habit.
"We even had a basketball hoop at home," the 33-year-old told CNN as she described her first family home.
It was her "nest of hers," she said, with a small garden and orchard.
When Russian forces captured the regional capital, also called Kherson, and its surroundings shortly after the invasion began, the family knew they couldn't stay, Julia said.
Russian checkpoints, armed forces and FSB intelligence agency officers were reportedly flooding the region at the same time that disappearances and arrests of local mayors, journalists and civilians spread, according to local officials and advocacy groups. human rights.
It was time to "leave the occupied territories to a safe place... in order to survive," said Julia.
The Russians had taken over their village, Verkhnii Rohachyk, and the Nesterenko family feared the consequences.
With nothing more than a backpack and their important documents, the family took what appeared to be the easiest route to the Ukrainian-controlled areas, he said.
On April 7, the family of three and 11 others boarded an evacuation boat, operated by a local resident, across the Dnipro River from the Russian-occupied southern part of the Kherson region to Ukrainian-controlled territory on the other side. from the river.
The Dnipro, one of the longest waterways in Europe, runs through Ukraine and the Kherson region before emptying into the Black Sea.
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The boat crossing, which began on the shore of the fishing village of Pervomaivka, should have been easy.
It was the seventh evacuation trip by boat from the village to a Ukrainian-controlled area on the north bank of the Dnipro River since the war began, according to Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the Kryvyi Rih military administration in neighboring Dnipropetrovsk region.
Instead, it turned into a bloodbath, according to Julia, two other survivors, a friend of one victim and several regional officials.
They described how Russian rockets and gunfire targeted the ship after she unintentionally strayed toward the front line.
Roman Shelest, head of the Kryvyi Rih Eastern District Prosecutor's Office for Ukraine, told CNN the boat veered toward the front line between Russian and Ukrainian forces, and was shot at 70 meters from shore.
A survivor, who declined to be identified for security fears, explained that the boat was lost in a smoke screen, believed to have been created by the Russians.
CNN has not been able to independently verify this claim.
"This shot was fired using a multiple rocket launch system, possibly Grad, but we would (only) be able to determine the exact type of weapon only after the forensic (investigation) is complete," Shelest added.
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One of the survivors also said he believed they were hit by Russian Grad rockets.
As the ship's navigator indicated that the group had approached the Russian village of Osokorivka, the morning silence was soon broken by the sound of exploding rockets, survivors said.
Vladimir collapsed bleeding in Julia's arms.
"My husband behind also fell on me when he was shot in the head," Julia told CNN, her voice soft and monotone, seemingly devoid of emotion after all she lost on that trip.
Four people were killed in the attack that day.
Oleh was among the three who died on the ship;
Vladimir died shortly after in a hospital.
Another victim was a lawyer who had traveled to the Kherson region to rescue her son and deliver humanitarian aid, the lawyer's friend, Tatyana Denisenko, told CNN.
Photos of the aftermath of the attack showed what appeared to be the remains of a rocket on the shore and bullet and shrapnel holes in the ship's hull.
The remains of what appears to have been a rocket, seen on the banks of the Dnipro River.
Bullet or shrapnel holes are shown on the ship that was attacked.
"Based on the shells and ammunition that we saw in the area and on the coast, we were able to see the direction of the shots, which shows that (they) were coming from the south, and that is the occupied territory at the moment and under the control of the armed forces of the Russian Federation," prosecutor Shelest, who is investigating the attack, told CNN.
CNN has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment.
Since the outbreak of the war, Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians, a claim that has been refuted by attacks on civilians and civilian targets that have been verified by CNN and other news organizations.
War in Ukraine Russian invasion of Ukraine