Violent death has long since become an ever-present part of life for the people of Lviv, where at least two or three soldiers killed at the front are buried every day in the local military cemetery. Many have felt that their sense of grief has faded over time, as if their psyche refuses to let in raw emotions each time, out of sheer self-preservation. Some deaths can still hit especially hard and awaken even those trapped in slumber to the ongoing suffering brought by Russian missiles and bombs to the country and to this city, located some 1,000 kilometers from the front line of the battlefield.
Thousands of people, many of them young, attended the funeral of four members of the well-known the Bazilevych familywho died in a recent Russian attack that destroyed their apartment in one of the city’s oldest and quietest neighborhoods.
In four white coffins The bodies of three young sisters, Emilia, Daria and Yaryna, aged 7, 18 and 21, and their mother, Yevhenia, aged 43, were found. They were accompanied Yaroslavthe husband of Yevhenia and father of the girls. Four coffins, four crosses, one family. It’s the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen in my life, the mayor of the city reacted, Andriy Sadovyi. The photo of Yaroslavhis face bloodied, walking past the body of one of his daughters near the destroyed house, had spread quickly on social media following the attack. It shook the entire city, as condolences poured in for the man who lost his family in the blink of an eye.
They loved each other so much. I don’t know if the father will survive so much pain, It’s impossible. After the attack, he stayed behind, despite his injuries, searching for his family in the rubble, said Shanel Kurnikova, a neighbor of the victims, as she watched firefighters clear the huge pile of debris from the elegant three-story home in search of survivors.
Kurnikova’s apartment was destroyed in the attack, but she and her 14-year-old daughter survived because they did not spend the night there. The Bazilevych family was in the house when it partially collapsed after an explosion. The photo of the family, all smiling and hugging, was shared by the Ukrainian Catholic University, where Daria was studying National Culture. In her cover letter, she had written that she was interested in learning about the culture and history of her country and telling the whole world about it. “This passion was born in me thanks to my family, who always shared with me stories about the hardships our ancestors experienced as a result of the world wars, the Holodomor and during the Soviet Union,” she explained. “We have an incredibly friendly and harmonious family. My family is an inexhaustible source of support that helps me overcome any obstacles,” she also shared in the same letter.
The family belonged to a circle of local intellectuals who survived the repression of the Soviet authorities and were very active in local cultural life. Emilia, the youngest, had just started her second year at school, while Yaryna, the eldest, was co-organiser of the local youth festival, Molodvizh.
A friend, Daryna Doskach, told reporters that the parents invested a lot in the upbringing and development of the three girls. On social networks, the father, Yaroslav Bazilevich, posted many photos of him and his family spending time together, often going to the theater. They were very cheerful people. It is a big loss for everyone: for friends, acquaintances, said Oleksandra Petryuk, a friend of the family.
Daria had the strongest hug in the world and her eyes always shone with happiness. When I found out she was gone, something broke inside me. It’s a very hard loss, shared Yaryna Chuma, a friend of hers.
Russia has recently stepped up its attacks on residential areas across the country in an effort to break the will to resist the invasion. Kyiv continues to ask its allies for more air defences and, crucially, without success so far, for the right to attack Russian airfields and missile launching sites with Western missiles, precisely to prevent further attacks like the one that killed the Bazylebych family. For Ukraine, the use of long-range missiles has become a vital necessity to stop the advance of enemy troops. The feeling is that time is running out.