BOHDAN AND OLEKSANDRA WITH THEIR DOG. PHOTO: TETIANA DANYLENKO/FACEBOOK
A school security guard denied a brother and sister access to a shelter in Kyiv on 14 December because they were with a dog. As the children rushed to find another safe place, a Russian missile was shot down just above them. They experienced severe stress as a result.
The police have now opened a criminal investigation into “leaving (the children) in danger” (Article 135.1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), as reported by Dmytro Hryshchenko, a spokesman for the National Police of Ukraine in the city of Kyiv.
Ukrainska Pravda.Zhyttia (Life) had a chance to talk to the mother of the affected children, Liubov Ovchynnikova. The woman described the condition of her children, Oleksandra, 11, and Bohdan, 12.
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“We’ve been at the police station today, and a psychologist talked to the children. As the investigator told me, the school principal would not be held responsible for the incident, as he was not present at the time and did not give the security guard an order to keep the children and the dog away. The only one who is likely to be held responsible is the security guard. The police told me they would sort it out; they have initiated criminal proceedings,” says Liubov Ovchynnikova.
Liubov added that on the day of the incident, the children had no idea that they would not be allowed to enter the shelter with their pet, as it was not the first time they had been there with their dog:
“We had already been to this shelter at night at school once, and no one told us anything.”
Commenting on the children's condition, the woman says: “They are doing well, they are holding up well,” although they have been subjected to considerable stress. When they were not allowed to enter the school bomb shelter, they ran to another one located 3 minutes away from their school. The children had not reached the shelter before the explosion occurred. They covered their heads and crouched down in fright, and the girl started crying.
“My children are very hardened as they have experienced the great trauma of losing their father. They behave reservedly and usually take the stress inside. They don't have tantrums. The only thing is that when my daughter is nervous, she gets severe headaches. She also had a terrible headache in the evening after the incident. She also becomes nervous after stress, gets irritated by everything, and wants to be alone and not talk to anyone. This behaviour lasts for two days after the stress. She has to work through it inside herself,” the woman adds.
Liubov further notes that the family no longer wishes to seek shelter in the school after the incident.
“Today, when there was an air raid, we went to another bomb shelter. As a matter of fact, it was I who told the children to go to the school shelter that day because I went to work, and I knew that teachers would be there, meaning the children would be under supervision. And in the other bomb shelter we went to today, there's often nobody around. At least out of humanity, they could have let my children in with the dog and just told them to come without it next time. (As a result) they were simply denied entry without warning – left outside in the midst of the attack,” says Liubov.
PHOTO: LIUBOV OVCHYNNIKOVA'S FAMILY ARCHIVE
It should be noted that the father of the family, Yurii Ovchynnikov, visited this school at the beginning of the full-scale invasion to sign up as a military volunteer. The man gave his life fighting the Russian invaders in Zaporizhzhia Oblast as part of the Azov Special Forces unit.
On 1 June, three people were killed in Kyiv, including a 9-year-old child. They were not let into the shelter of a medical facility in the Desnianskyi district.
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