It took more than a day for rescuers to find Ulyana Kulyk’s tiny body in the rubble.
She was just two months old when a Russian missile hit her home in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih on Monday morning. Her father was the sole survivor.
Ukrainian officials said it was one of several strikes targeting southern and central cities that morning and the latest in a string of nearly weekly strikes against residential buildings in Kryvyi Rih, many of them deadly.
The city lies some 70 kilometers (40 miles) from the southern Ukrainian front line.
The UN children’s agency UNICEF said that tragic stories like the one of Ulyana and her family “have become the norm in Ukraine as attacks on populated areas continue.”
“In the first 12 days of November, intense and sustained attacks have killed at least four children and injured more than twenty,” the organization said.
Photographs and videos from the scene give a glimpse of the incredible force with which the ballistic missile struck their apartment block. The five-story building looks as if it was sliced in half, with a huge chunk of it missing in the middle.
Ulyana’s mother Olena, 32, and brothers Kyrylo, 10, and Demyd, 2, were all killed. Her father Maksym likely only survived because he was in the kitchen cooking the family breakfast when the building was struck, according to local media.
“I don’t want to live. And today I was supposed to be here with you, the fifth,” Maksym Kulyk said at his children’s and wife’s joint funeral on Thursday.
The funeral was a heart-wrenching affair. Four coffins of the same design and varying sizes, showered with flowers and toys, as dozens of family and friends, including many children, came to say goodbye to the family.
As Kulyk spoke, addressing each of his children and his wife, another air raid siren sounded in the city – as if those attending the funeral needed a reminder that the conflict was still raging.
Olena was an employee of Steel Service, a subsidiary of global giant ArcelorMittal, and was on maternity leave at the time of the attack.
“My soul, my blood, my heart, my support and strength, my rear. I love you so much. I will always love you,” Kulyk said about her.
Kyrylo, the oldest of the three children, was described by his father as his “best friend” and by staff at his school as “a bright light for everyone who knew him.”
“He was only 10 years old, but his short life was full of joy, dreams and boundless love. His smile, carefree laugh and inexhaustible energy brought joy not only to his family, but also to his friends, classmates, teachers and everyone around him,” the 103rd School in Kryvyi Rih said in a statement on Facebook. It said the fourth grader loved reading books, exploring the world and playing football.
“Demyd. I bathed you, slept with you, fed you, went for walks with you. You always said ‘daddy’,” Kulyk said, adding that he was looking forward to Ulyana becoming a “daddy’s girl.”
Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s ombudsman, pointed out that all of the children had been born since the conflict with Russia started in eastern Ukraine in 2014.
“A two-month-old girl and boys aged two and 10. These children were born during the war. The 10-year-old boy was born when Russia started its armed aggression against Ukraine. The two-year-old was born when Russia launched a full-scale invasion. The girl was born only recently,” he said in a statement.
The local authorities in Kryvyi Rih declared Wednesday an official day of mourning.
The city has seen a number of ballistic missile strikes in recent weeks. Two, each killing two people and injuring more than a dozen, struck Kryvyi Rih within one week earlier this month. In September, at least 10 people, including a 12-year-old child, were killed in three separate missile strikes.
900 bombs in one week
The frequent waves of aerial attacks come as Ukraine struggles to repel Russian advances in eastern Ukraine. At the same time, Russia appears to be preparing for a counteroffensive in its southern Kursk region, deploying tens of thousands troops into the area, according to Ukrainian and US officials.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that in just one week, Russia dropped more than 900 bombs and launched some 30 missiles and nearly 500 drones across Ukraine. He said that most of the strikes were directed against civilian objects and critical infrastructure.
Zelensky and his wife Olena Zelenska are from Kryvyi Rih, a city that lies some 70 kilometers (40 miles) from the southern Ukrainian front line.
When the news of the three children killed in the city emerged on Tuesday, Zelenska paid tribute to the victims and made yet another emotional plea to Ukraine’s allies.
“Our only dream is that such a tragedy will never happen again. But the murders cannot be stopped by words. I want everyone who can help us stop the enemy and the grief (the enemy) brings to Ukraine to hear me. Please don’t look for reasons to postpone your help until later. Children must live,” she said in a post on her Telegram channel.
Ukraine marked 1,000 days since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022 on Tuesday, with many inside the country and elsewhere worried about the impact of former President Donald Trump’s second term in office on the conflict. Trump has previously said he would end the conflict “in 24 hours,” without revealing any details as to how.