Two years later, they lost their husband and father: in the capital, they said goodbye to their mother and daughter, who were killed by a Russian missile near a closed shelter.

A huge funnel with a diameter of tens of meters, a sea of ​​glass, blood, tears and despair - this is exactly what happened on the morning of June 1 for residents of one of the high-rise buildings in the Desnyansky district of the capital. That night, Russian monsters fired 10 rockets in the direction of Kyiv, the wreckage of one of them killed three people. Among them 33-year-old Olga Ivashko and her 9-year-old daughter Victoria. They just wanted to live and fled to the clinic nearby, which housed the bomb shelter, which was closed. The whole world was stirred up by a photo in which an elderly man in a white jacket sits on a chair near the body of his granddaughter, covered with foil. All the time, from the moment the police let him in until the forensic experts took away the body, he did not leave the deceased, covering the loss of his face with his hands from the pain. People continue to massively carry toys, flowers and letters for the girl to the place of death with aching words that “she will be happy there… “

“They came down from the sixth floor in blankets and quickly to the shelter, but the door was closed”

- Olya was born in Kyiv, and we grew up with her since childhood, because we were brought together cousins. She studied at school number 152, after that she graduated from the capital’s energy college, where she received the profession of an accountant - told godfather and friend of the deceased Anna Novik. - She worked as a deputy chief accountant in one of the large companies, where she was respected and appreciated for her professional and human qualities. Olga always radiated optimism, was cheerful, purposeful. Two years ago, her husband passed away, so she raised her daughter herself, trying to give her the best. I baptized Victoria and always noted that this is my second daughter. I loved spending time with her, she was a bright, kind, sincere and smart girl who would have a great future … The girl studied well at school, attended additional classes in English and mathematics, Olya supported her in everything and lived as a child. The girl was engaged in judo and had many medals and diplomas. At the last competitions I received two medals at once and our joy and pride knew no bounds.

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When the war began, Olya and Vika went to Transcarpathia, but soon returned, because they believed that everything would be fine and victory would be very soon. Two months ago we rested in Egypt, because the godfather wanted her daughter to be a little distracted from the war, not so long ago they rested in the Carpathians. Since the girl had a hard time enduring the explosions, Olya constantly ran with her to the shelter, which was open all the time. And this time it was closed … Recently, her mother also lived with Olya, who buried a man last summer. The woman has leukemia, so a friend took care of her, helped with the treatment. It seemed that this beautiful and kind family had already endured so much grief that it was enough. But the tragedy again knocked on their house, and this is very unfair and painful.

Ekaterina Didukh - a friend and neighbor of the deceased Olga. She remembers that she woke up at about 02:49 from the air raid siren. A short time later, loud explosions began.

- I got up from the bed to go into the corridor between the two walls. And when another explosion rang out, I saw a big red ball right in front of the window at the clinic … My legs went numb and I fell. Coming to my senses, I tried to understand what happened, - she told - And on the street, Olya’s mother, Aunt Galya, screamed madly: “Olyaaaaa, Vikaaaaa, where are you? They are nowhere to be found… Help! They went to the bomb shelter and fled! Only burnt things on the ground…” My husband and I got dressed to go outside and help in any way we could. It was still quite dark. A bunch of people with flashlights, broken glass and windows on the ground. We were looking for Aunt Galya, and when I approached the clinic, I almost lost consciousness when I saw that the explosion was right there, where there was a bomb shelter nearby, into which our neighbors Olya and Vikulya ran every alarm. The police had already cordoned off the area and covered the bodies… It was terrible. We tried to find out any information, described what the girls looked like and what they could be wearing. Some said that a woman who looked like Olya was taken away by an ambulance, but for little Vika everything was terrible. Everyone said that, most likely, she died. Nobody was allowed to see the bodies, neither grandmothers nor us … We found Aunt Galya already under the house, she was in despair, while almost losing consciousness from shock. The police said to wait for experts, conclusions. We couldn’t tell grandma anything. We went to work, passing the baton of care to neighbors Tanya and Vova, who witnessed tears and screams when it was confirmed that Vika and Olya had died.

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Kuma of the dead mother and daughter adds - they quickly descended from the sixth floor in blankets and to the shelter, near which their neighbors were. But the door was closed. They just didn’t make it. They were scattered in different directions.

- Probably Vika was the first to run, and Olya was a little behind her. And it was the latter that was in the center of the explosion, Anna Novik adds. - Olya’s mother came running first, she found only their blanket and she became ill. And my mother had already taken her away and called an ambulance, because she was very ill. But we believed to the last that maybe they were shell-shocked or lost consciousness. Unfortunately, the miracle did not happen. In the photo where the grandfather sits by the body of his granddaughter, this is Olya’s father-in-law. He and his wife live nearby and ran to the place. It’s kind of a fatal accident. This should not have happened, Olya and Vika should have lived. A closed shelter is official negligence and must be punished. The fact that the guard is guilty is out of the question, but someone gave him such an order.

“I don’t understand how it was possible to close the bomb shelter during martial law”

Coach of the deceased girl Diana Khalmatova lives near their house, the windows in her apartment flew out as a result of a powerful explosion. A few hours later, she learned that the tragedy had taken the life of her talented student Victoria, who had been practicing judo for about three years at the Judo Master sports club.

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- She came to judo on her own initiative when we were recruiting. Her mother Olga brought her to a trial workout, she really liked it. Then she attended classes and did not miss a single one, then she wanted to move to a group of more experienced judokas, although then it was still beyond her strength and beyond her training, - Diana Khalmatova told FACTS with sadness. - But she really wanted to. But somewhere in a year and a half, we still transferred the girl to the senior group, as she dreamed of. She performed at all competitions, meetings, although by her appearance and character one cannot say that she was engaged in such a sport. Because after all, the struggle hurts, sometimes you need to overcome your fear somewhere. This is especially difficult for modest and calm children, such as Vikusya. But she succeeded. She was purposeful, hardworking, proactive. Judo was like a breath of fresh air for her and she ran with a smile to her classes. Loved to come and hug. The last time I was in Kyiv in May, because I have to go abroad, Vikusya ran to the meeting and hugged me so tightly. Like, I missed you a lot. From these memories it hurts in the soul … Recently, the girl passed to the yellow belt, she dreamed of getting an orange one. Mom was constantly next to her daughter, supported and noted that she would try to do everything so that her daughter would develop in sports.

Diana adds that she knows from her own experience that the situation with shelters in Lesnoy massif is difficult, and the authorities need to take this into account and do something about it in order to avoid, God forbid, new victims.

- I do not understand how it was possible to close the bomb shelter during the state of war. Because the fact that it really was so was confirmed to me by the parents of the pupils of our club. It’s just that some were on the other side, some didn’t run, but everyone said that they knocked, but no one opened the door for them. Four minutes passed before they ran out after the alarm and tried to hide from the missiles. Did not have time, - the coach says. - I had a fear when I learned about the tragedy that someone from the relatives or friends of my students might suffer. And yet she drove away bad thoughts. I still don’t believe that Vikusi and Olya are gone. The children, their parents and other coaches are having a hard time losing the girl, they are constantly crying, and now we are working to ensure that a psychologist works with the pets. Because the clinic where everything happened is next to our gym. And every time, going to training, there will be terrible memories before the eyes of the children. It also hurts that on the day when a Russian rocket killed the young judoka Viktoria Ivashko and her mother in Kyiv, the Grand Prix in Dushanbe started, where athletes from Russia took part. Imagine, they performed, received awards at a time when we mourned for the innocent people killed by the Russian occupiers. Therefore, we must do everything to influence the world judo federation and exclude athletes from Belarus and Russia from all competitions.

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Olga Ivashko and her daughter were taken on their last journey on June 5. The bodies were badly mutilated by fragments of Russian missiles, so it was decided to bury them in closed coffins. Grandfather and grandmother did not leave them for a second, hugging their arms, saying goodbye and crying bitterly, because it was too unfair.

For those who want and can help the families of the victims, here is a card:
5457 0822 2323 5487 Stepanenko Galina Ivanovna (Oli’s mother and Vika’s grandmother)

Earlier, FACTS published a sports doctor’s story about the death of his daughter and wife during the shelling of Kherson: “They died,” these words still burn my heart.”