WafricNews - June 5, 2025

Ukrainian Firefighter Arrives at Drone Attack to Find His Wife, Daughter, and Grandson Among the Dead

A Ukrainian firefighter responding to a Russian drone strike in the city of Pryluky was met with unimaginable tragedy when he discovered that the victims included his own family—his wife, daughter, and one-year-old grandson.

The drone, part of a wider overnight assault involving over 100 aerial weapons, struck a residential building in central Ukraine, killing five people and injuring nine others. The firefighter, who leads the local brigade, had raced to the scene only to find three generations of his family gone.

Among the victims was 26-year-old Daryna Shygyda, a police officer remembered by colleagues as “strong, bright and sincere.” She had joined the Ukrainian police force in 2020, inspired by a childhood spent watching her father serve others as a firefighter.

“Becoming a police officer was her dream and calling,” Ukraine’s National Police said in a statement. “Her father taught her to help others, and her husband, also a patrol officer, always stood by her side in service.”

Daryna had been visiting her mother that night, along with her infant son. Her grandparents, Valentyn and Lyudmila Lotysh, who lived in another part of the house, recalled hearing the child's cries moments before the impact.

“Misha, the little boy, was screaming. And then everything went quiet,” Valentyn told local media.

The baby boy, just one year old, became the 632nd child confirmed killed since Russia’s full-scale invasion began, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. A heartbreaking photo shared online shows the child turned away from the camera, wrapped tightly in his mother’s arms, a small woolly hat shielding him from the winter chill.

Zelensky condemned the attack, describing it as part of a “massive strike by Russian terrorists” that left at least eight civilians dead nationwide that night. In a statement posted on Telegram, he renewed his call for tougher sanctions on Moscow and greater international action.

“This is why the world must act. We expect meaningful support from the US, Europe, and every country that wants to see this war end,” Zelensky said.

Despite Kremlin statements about seeking peace—such as President Vladimir Putin’s recent remarks to Pope Leo XIV—Russia has continued a pattern of daily aerial strikes on civilian areas. The latest assault follows intensified drone production by Russia, including its version of the Iranian-designed Shahed drone, which has become a key weapon in its aerial campaign.

Analysts believe this surge in drone warfare is aimed at exhausting Ukraine’s defenses and wearing down the spirit of its people.

Pryluky has declared two days of mourning in honour of the victims. Ukrainian flags were lowered to half-mast, and black mourning banners now hang from public buildings as the town grieves an unfathomable loss—one that reflects the heavy toll this war continues to exact on ordinary families.

By Wafricnews Desk.