A Ukrainian woman and her family living in the UK have been left “distraught” after her father was left fighting for his life in the wake of a Russian cruise missile strike on his apartment block.
Olena Sidlauskas’s dad is living in the city of Ternopil, located in western Ukraine, lies approximately 435 miles from the frontline and just 125 miles from the border with Poland. Tragically, he was struck by a Russian missile attack last week.
“On November 19, we [woke up] to the news of yet another massive attack on Ukraine by Russia during their full-scale invasion. This time, however, it hit home,” said Olena.
“Around nine Russian X-101 cruise missiles had hit the residential flats in my home city of Ternopil […] One of the nine missiles hit 30 feet from my parents’ ground-floor apartment, destroying absolutely everything my parents had and worked hard for all of their lives. Just so it happens, my father, Yevhen, was coming out of the front door on his daily commute to work at the time of impact. As a result, he has suffered severe shrapnel wounds to his head, abdomen, and legs.”
Yevhen has had several serious operations, including having large portions of his intestines removed, with surgeons working “round the clock to save his life”. There is also a high possibility of him losing one of his legs.
The city of Ternopil, located in western Ukraine, lies approximately 435 miles from the frontline and just 125 miles from the border with Poland.
Speaking to the Express on Wednesday (December 3), Olena said: “We are rather distraught at the moment about the hopelessness of the situation […] the situation back home is really grim – dad’s fighting for his life, as well as my parents’ apartment being completely wrecked, and in need of full renovation. As for my dad, in addition to both broken legs, we have had an update from the surgeons just earlier today, following yet another operation, after he was found to have a complete rupture of the ureter, which is severed 3cm [1.2 inches] from the bladder”.
According to the surgeons, a fragment of shrapnel in the abdominal cavity shifted and damaged the ureter. At that point, it was unclear whether it was partially torn or fully ruptured. On Thursday, they planned to perform a cystoscopy and place a stent up to the kidney. If this was not successful, they planned to leave things as they are for several months and then perform reconstructive surgery.
“There are however, thoughts of potentially transporting him to Kyiv without waiting for 2-3 months in order to perform the reconstructive operation already, but the fear is that he is too weak to be transported, and even more so – to be operated on again, as this would be his 5th operation in two weeks since the attack,” Olena added.
In a desperate attempt to raise money to pay for medicine, operations and healthcare, Olena and her husband, Andrius, set up a GoFundMe page. “This is because medics have done all they could to somewhat stabilise him (free of charge), however, going forward – with country in a state of war – there is huge lack of funding, therefore, the financial burden falls on our shoulders as a family”.
“Obviously, the absolute main priority now is to use all the funds available to get my dad fixed, but of course, this is going to be one long, long way to recovery, should the medics be able to perform a miracle, God Willing…”
As of December 6, the appeal has raised an incredible £8,620 of its £9,000 target. “This is very hard for us as we have never asked for anything to be given to us, and have been raised to always work all our lives for everything we have,” Olena wrote. “Therefore, with a broken heart, I would like to ask my friends, colleagues, and all people around me who know us to please help with any donations that you are comfortable with, no matter how small…”
On top of this, Olena said there is also a desperate need to rebuild the apartment – almost from scratch – “because at the moment both my mum and my dad are literally homeless”, she said.
According to Ukrainian officials on November 20, at least 25 people, including three children, were killed in the Russian missile and drone attack in Ternopil the previous day. This later rose to 36 people, including seven children. Over 120 others were injured.
To donate to Yevhen’s GoFundMe appeal, which is just short of its £9,000 target, please click here.