Kirill's father, a Ukrainian soldier, is missing.
Kirill is a 4-year-old boy from Mariupol. His mother is a doctor and his father serves in the army. At the outset of the war, mother and child remained in their home, but by the end of March they had to flee, as their beautiful city had become exceedingly dangerous and unlivable. They managed to reach the city of Dnipro, surviving many challenges along the way. Kirill and his mother lost track of father for some time, but eventually learned that he had been captured along with others from the Azov Batallion. On July 29, 2022, the Elenovka prison was bombed where prisoners of war were held, including those from Azov--no word about father.
For the past few weeks, Kirill's mother has been looking for work; now she is also looking for her husband. Kirill often stays with his grandparents who fled Mariupol as well. The boy has a variety of challenges, including a speech impediment, poor vision and other health issues that arose from his premature birth. Desperate and exhausted, the mother reached out to the Jewish Relief Network Ukraine seeking help for her son. Thanks to cooperation form the Jewish Medical Center Dnipro, Kirill was examined by several specialists, one of whom found a cyst of the brain, part of the reason for his poor vision. The youngster is under constant monitoring by specialists in Dnipro, and he is participating In several JRNU programs. Sadly, there is no news of Kirill's father, but mother and son are grateful for the ongoing support from the caring staff of JRNU.
