“Mom, we don't have a house!”: a 12-year-old boy miraculously survived missile attack in Kyiv Oblast

On 16 June, Russia attacked ten oblasts in Ukraine. A private house in Kyiv Oblast was destroyed as a result of falling debris from Russian missiles. There was a 12-year-old boy who was able to save himself by hiding in the basement.

UP. Zhyttia talked to Viktoria Sushko, the teenager's mother, and the boy, Roman, who described what happened that day. The incident happened in the Vyshhorod district, in a private house in the suburbs of Kyiv.

"My 12-year-old son, Roman, stayed at home alone. Both my mother and I went to work. He begged to go with me; I didn't pay any importance to it.

Around 11:00, the air-raid alarm sounded. The son started writing messages that it was 'loud' at home and he was scared," said Victoria Sushko.

After that, the woman started reading the news and saw the information that the Kalibrs were flying from Cherkasy Oblast. She started calming her son down, saying, "It's not from our side; everything will be fine".

Roman continued to write to his mother and asked her not to go home because it was "loud". He hid in the cellar.

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A ruined housePhoto: Victoria Sushko

At 11:58, Victoria read a message from her son that their home had been struck: "Mom, we don't have a house!"

"Roman sent the photos but they were not clear, so I thought that nothing serious had happened. It seemed that the child was fantasising. Then my son was already calling hysterically, asking where I was, and saying he was very scared.

When I arrived, I saw everything with my own eyes," the woman recalls. According to the woman, only the walls and some furniture were left of the house. A shed and a garage with a car were also damaged.

Victoria Sushko

Roman was pulled out from under the rubble of the house by neighbours who came after the strike.

He was in a cellar under the house. "My uncle pulled me out from under the rubble. I thought the missile itself struck the house because it was very loud.

Now I feel good. When it happened, it was scary, but I didn't quite understand what was happening. I don't feel like a hero," says Roman.

The destroyed house of the Sushko familyPhoto: Victoria Sushko

Victoria also said that her son is physically fine now.

But she understands that psychological problems may arise over time. This was not the first strike on Sushko's house during the period of the full-scale invasion. Victoria says that the previous time there was no serious damage; only two windows were blown out, but her son had health problems.

According to Victoria Sushko, the psychiatrist with whom they were being treated advised her to change her place of residence. "Roman often asked me to go to the cellar during air-raid alarms. I constantly reassured him and told him that everything would be fine.

Now I understand that his fears were not in vain," the woman added. The police gave a statement to the affected family that their house was not fit for living. Therefore, Victoria, Roman and her grandmother temporarily stayed with friends.

According to the woman, her neighbours were also affected, and three private houses were damaged.

Victoria is asking for help with housing restoration.

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