Ukrainian Family Recounts Father's Death by Russian Gunfire as He Rode His Bike
Emilio Morenatti/AP Yura Nechyporenko
The family members of 47-year-old Ruslan Nechyporenko — a Ukrainian man who was shot and killed by a Russian soldier while riding on his bike in the besieged town of Bucha — are remembering the moment he died, and the dangerous efforts they had to undertake to retrieve his body.
The Associated Press reports that Nechyporenko's son, 14-year-old Yura, was riding a bike alongside his father when they were confronted by a soldier and fired upon — despite that the two had white fabric tied to their handles, in a sign that they were traveling in peace.
Petros Giannakouris/AP Yura Nechyporenko, 15, kisses the pictures of his father Ruslan Nechyporenko in front of his uncle Andriy Nechyporenko, at the cemetery in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Thursday, April 21, 2022. The teen survived an attempted killing by Russian soldiers while his father was killed, and now his family seeks justice
Though the two held their hands up in surrender, the soldier fired at them both, hitting Yura near his hand and elbow. His father, meanwhile, was also shot. Yura "listened to his father die" as he lay on the asphalt beside him, the AP reports.
Once the soldier left, Yura ran for his life, seeking shelter in the basement of a school where his mother worked.
But the tragedy wasn't over yet, with Yura describing to the AP how he and his grandmother went back to the scene of the crime, to collect Ruslan's body.
Despite threats from another Russian soldier, they were able to take Ruslan's body, transporting it from the deserted Bucha street to their home by rolling him in a carpet and placing him on an old door, which they then transported via wheelbarrow. He was buried in their backyard, the AP reports.
Yura, meanwhile, was unable to get help for his injuries (due to the Russian invasion, both the police and ambulance service told the family they could no longer service the area).
Emilio Morenatti/AP Yura Nechyporenko, 15, hugs his uncle Andriy Nechyporenko next to the grave of his father Ruslan Nechyporenko at the cemetery in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday, April 25, 2022. The teen survived an attempted killing by Russian soldiers while his father was killed, and now his family seeks justice.
So the next day, the family left Bucha via an evacuation corridor — but danger would emerge again, when Russian soldiers asked why Yura wore a makeshift sling.
According to the AP, the boy replied that he had been "shot by a Russian soldier" — a confession his mother told the outlet worried her.
"I felt everything collapse inside me," she told the AP. "I thought they would shoot us all."
In the end, the soldiers let the family pass.
But many in Bucha never got out.
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According to the AP, more than 1,000 bodies have been found in Bucha and neighboring areas since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in late February.
The New York Times reports that, of pre-war Bucha's approximately 40,000 residents, only about 4,000 remain. A Bucha coroner and his colleagues reportedly collected more than 100 bodies in the past several weeks, the majority of which were civilians who had died as a result of being shot or hit with shrapnel.
Russian soldiers have been accused of raping, torturing and killing hundreds of civilians in the town, which resorted to burying the dead in a mass grave because the morgue there was without electricity for refrigeration.
Petros Giannakouris/AP
Russia has denied any involvement in the killings, with the country's Ministry of Defense saying the images of bodies on the streets of Bucha — taken by seasoned journalists for outlets across the world — had been "staged" and that "not a single" civilian had been injured there, per the Times and other reports.
Meanwhile, the attack on Ukraine continues. Details of the fighting change by the day, but thousands of civilians have already been reported dead or wounded, including children, though the actual number of deaths is difficult to determine.
More than 5.5 million have fled the country as refugees — and half are children, according to the United Nations. Millions more have been displaced inside Ukraine.
The invasion, ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, has drawn condemnation around the world and increasingly severe economic sanctions against Russia.
With NATO forces amassed in the region, various countries are offering aid or military support to the resistance. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for peace talks — so far unsuccessful — while urging his country to fight back.
Putin insists Ukraine has historic ties to Russia and he is acting in the best security interests of his country. Zelenskyy vowed not to bend.
"Nobody is going to break us, we're strong, we're Ukrainians," he told the European Union in a speech in the early days of the fighting, adding, "Life will win over death. And light will win over darkness."
The Russian attack on Ukraine is an evolving story, with information changing quickly. Follow PEOPLE's complete coverage of the war here, including stories from citizens on the ground and ways to help.