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Hi.
My name is Ilya, and I'm fundraising for a friend's family that was struck by tragedy in the Ukrainian war.
Many of us have heard stories of human suffering - unimaginable in our time, when speaking to friends in Ukraine over the past six months.
This is the story of my friend Evgenia's family.
It happened days after the start of the Russian invasion.
Russian forces occupied small towns outside of Kyiv. Bucha, Irpen', Vorzel... The atrocities that followed have been well documented.
Evgeniya's sister Natalya, her husband Oleg, and their three children were stranded in Vorzel without access to food, electricity or heating.
On March 3, left with few options, Oleg and Natalya put their children in a car and made a desperate attempt to escape.
Tragically, they encountered a Russian tank and were chased by Russian soldiers - who opened fire on them.
Two children - the fifteen-year-old Andrii and the three-year-old Mykolka were killed.
Oleg was severely wounded in the head.
Natalya got Oleg to a local hospital while strangers buried Andrii and Mykolka.
Oleg had a bullet and some metal fragments removed from his head.
He is now in Germany with Natalya and their remaining son - Myhailo.
Oleg is recovering slowly, but requires another surgery to remove the remaining pieces of metal and close a significant gap in his head.
He needs our help to raise money for the surgery.
Lauren Wolfe, an American journalist, traveled to Vorzel in June - after the Russian forces withdrew from the area and before Oleg and Natalya traveled to
Germany to receive medical care.
She spoke with Oleg and Natalya.
Here is her article.
