According to the report, the husband and father of a Ukrainian woman and two children killed in a mortar attack near Kiev on Sunday learned of the murder of his family on Twitter.
Mother Tatyana Perebeynis, 43 years old, Children Nikita, 18 years old; Alice, 9 years old; and Anatoly Berezhnoy, 26, a church volunteer who helped them escape, were killed by Russian troops as they crossed a damaged bridge in Irpin.
A photograph of their bodies strewn across the sidewalk prompted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to promise that he would kill “every bastard” responsible for the massacre of civilians.
Sergei Perebiynis, 43, was in eastern Ukraine caring for his ailing mother when his family was killed. He burst into tears while talking about the senseless killings during an interview, According to the report.
“I told her, ‘I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you,'” he said, recounting their Saturday night conversation. “I was trying to take care of one person and that meant I couldn’t protect you.”
Mother Tatiana Perebeinos tried to evacuate her children in a minibus when they were forced to run across the bridge on foot before dying. Image source: Facebook.
“She said, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll come out.’ ”
Perebiynis said he thought it was important that the footage of the horrific death of his wife and children infuriated Ukrainian leaders and touched the heartstrings of sympathizers around the world.
“The whole world needs to know what’s going on here,” he told the newspaper.
Tatiana, an IT worker who was persuaded by her company to evacuate last month, didn’t leave early because she was worried about bringing her mother, who has Alzheimer’s disease.
According to the report, she took refuge in the basement of the house with her children after a shell hit their house.
Nikita Perebeinis reportedly stayed up day and night while looking after his mother and sister. Image source: Facebook.
Nikita slept all day and stayed up all night looking after his mother and sister, Perebiynis said.
“My son was under a lot of stress,” Mr. Perebiinis said.
As the attacks intensified, his wife decided to flee the area with their children and parents.
On Saturday, they tried to leave the city in their minibus, but were dissuaded by a tank driving down the street, a widower told the newspaper.
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On Sunday morning, they drove as far as they could, but were forced to evacuate their minibus and tried to cross the damaged bridge on foot, Perebiinis told the Times.
Perebiynis tried to track his family’s whereabouts using a mobile app. He realized that something had gone wrong when the tracker showed that the phone was in a Kiev hospital and no one was answering his calls.
According to the article, he saw a tweet about the scene after reading reports that a family had died in a mortar attack on the evacuation route.
Nine-year-old Alisa Perebeinis died while trying to escape from Russian troops. Image source: Facebook.
“I recognized the luggage and that’s how I recognized it,” he reportedly said of the bloodied suitcases and backpacks the family was carrying. The items were photographed next to their bodies.
The mother and father-in-law of Perebinis were behind their daughter and grandchildren and were not injured during the attack. According to the newspaper, they were staying with the godmother of the family.
To return to Kyiv, Perebiynis flew to Russia and crossed the land border with Poland, where Russian guards eventually let him through after threatening to arrest him, the article says.
Perebinis’ mother and father-in-law also evacuated with their family, but were not injured in the attack. Andrey Dubchak/AP
“My whole family died in what you call a special operation, but we call it a war. You can do with me what you want. I have nothing to lose,” Perebiynis told them.
This was the second time that the couple, who met in high school, and their children were separated by the war.
The family moved to Kyiv in 2014 after being displaced by the Russian uprising in Donetsk in the east of the country, Perebiynis reported.
“We were married for 23 years, renovated three apartments and never had a fight,” Perebiinis said of his murdered wife.
Map of the war in Ukraine from March 9, 2022.
Berezhny, a church volunteer, took his wife to western Ukraine, but returned to Irpen to help his church evacuate parishioners.
He ran to help the Perebyin family when the shelling started, Nikolai Romaniuk, pastor of the Irpin Bible Church, told the Times.
“He was the kind of friend who was willing to help without further ado,” he said. “I don’t know how God can forgive such crimes.”
Zelenskiy spoke about the attack in an address on Sunday.
“We will punish all those who committed atrocities in this war. On our land. We’ll find every bastard. Who fired at our cities, at our people. Who bombed our land. who launched rockets. Who gave the order and pressed “start,” he continued.
“There will be no quiet place for you on this earth. Except the grave.”