A DAD encouraged his young children to dodge Russian shelling and dead bodies by telling them they were superheroes and their power was running.
Olexandr Tytova, 35, had to act quickly to get his wife and two kids to safety after their home came under attack.
5
Olexandr Tytova told his kids they were superheroes so he could get them to escape Credit: Chris Eades 5
The haunting image of his wife and daughter flashed around the world 5
Olexandr, a school biology teacher, told the kids their power was running Credit: Chris Eades
Recalling the moment he was forced to flee, he told The Sun: "We crouched over as we ran. We rested in courtyards, in half-built townhouses.
"Buildings were on fire. I told the kids we were superheroes on an adventure. Our superpower was running.
"After 5km, we reached Butcha. But power, gas and the water supply went there too."
School teacher Olexandr's wife Kateryna and his five-year-old daughter Tajisia were pictured clutching hands as they ran for their lives from Russian shells earlier this month.
Read more on Ukraine
PUTIN'S THREAT Putin's UN ambassador says they have the right to press the nuclear button
HIT AND MISS Russian ship blown up in Ukraine port after bungling Kremlin revealed location
The haunting image of the pair flashed around the world.
Amid the rubble and roar of war, Kateryna recalled telling Tajisia: “Please run — we can cry later.”
The 35-year-old added: “We were sprinting, dragging the kids. We urged, ‘faster, faster!’
“Houses were ablaze around us. In my blurred vision, among the ear-shattering noise and terror, I was aware of a shell landing nearby.
Most read in The Sun
SCUMBAG Brother of thug who kidnapped Angel Lynn & left her brain-damaged mocks her online
'IT'S A SHOCK' This Morning in Covid shock as Vanessa Feltz tests positive after filming
HEADS UP I draw on my hairline - no-one notices and people are shocked when they realise
JEANIUS My nan taught me a trick on how to get too-tight jeans to fit & it's amazing
“A soldier screamed at me, ‘Don’t look over, don’t look!’
“Ten yards from us there lay a mum and dad and their daughter, dead in the road. The shell had hit them directly as they ran for their lives alongside us.”
Jewellery-maker Kateryna said: “I have never been so scared. I really didn’t think we’d make it.
“I didn’t realise our photo was going to be on the front page of The Sun. But thank you, Great Britain, for caring about us.”
Kateryna was still wearing the same clothes in which she escaped Hostomel, in northern Ukraine, with husband Olexandr and son Makar, ten.
They are now staying in the home of friends in Vinnytsia, in the western central part of the war-torn country.
Kateryna told how they had been forced to leave Donestsk, to the east, in 2014 after the disputed Donbass region was seized by pro-Russian separatists.
They settled in Hostomel, on the outskirts of capital Kyiv.
But her family’s life was shaken to the core once again on February 24 — day one of despot Vladimir Putin’s invasion.
His war machine quickly targeted Hostomel’s strategically important airport, launching a deadly assault.
We were sprinting, dragging the kids. We urged, ‘faster, faster!’ Houses were ablaze around us. In my blurred vision, among the ear-shattering noise and terror, I was aware of a shell landing nearby.
Kateryna Tytova
Kateryna said: “The first thing to go was our internet, then the power. The Ukrainians built a -barricade outside our house.
“In the blink of an eye we were on the front line of war.”
By February 28, bodies lined the neighbouring streets.
Still in disbelief, Kateryna said: “Burned-out military vehicles were everywhere.
“It reminded me of zombie -apocalypse horror movies. But the bodies on the ground didn’t belong to a film or computer game.
“The bombardment intensified until one morning a shell flew into our courtyard.
“The blast shattered all the windows. The building rocked backwards and forwards like we were on a boat. My legs turned to jelly. The kids were in a blind panic.”
The family grabbed what they could, agonisingly having to say a tearful goodbye to their cat and two dogs.
Kateryna said: “As we crawled out of the house on our hands and knees it felt like everything around us was exploding. The ground was shaking.
“We were surrounded by trenches filled with military gear, weapons — and more bodies.”
Life or death queue
HUNDREDS of Ukrainians are seen queuing for humanitarian aid in the bombed out city of Mariupol.
They were risking death in a desperate bid to get food and water against a background of bombed blocks of flats.
Russian soldiers stood nearby as besieged residents sought help in a city normally home to 400,000.
Drone footage shows Mariupol almost completely razed, yet 100,000 are living among the rubble. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Italy’s parliament that there was “nothing left” of the city.
It is feared 6,000 civilians have been removed to Russian “filtration camps” to be held as hostages.
The Ukraine Foreign Ministry said: “Residents who survived bombing and artillery shelling are now being forcibly deported to Russia. The invaders confiscate passports.”
“We kept rushing them on saying, ‘We can’t stop!’.
“Then a minibus pulled over. It was already packed but they took us. We got as far as the destroyed bridge over the Teteriv River.”
They were faced with a makeshift river crossing on narrow planks. Bullets were flying and shells rained down.
Soldiers screamed for families to run — and Kateryna and her girl were captured in the image which made the front page of The Sun on March 7.
Kateryna went on: “Tajisia was crying. After another 100 metres we saw another bus. There was no lull in the shelling.”
The family were taken to the outskirts of Kyiv, where they headed east to Vinnytsia. They are staying with old friends from Donetsk.
In the arms of her mum, Tajisia, still in her dinosaur-print coat, gave a thumbs up.
Exhausted Kateryna said: “The kids are in shock, too scared to go outside. They are frightened to see smoke billowing from a chimney.
Read More on The Sun
TASTE FOR BLOOD Horrors of Russian ‘butcher of Mariupol’ who bombed ward & ‘gassed Syrians’
JUMP IN Mediterranean-style villa with VINEYARD up for sale - you won't believe where it is
“If they see us cry, they will cry. We stay strong.
“I hope the determination of my family shows the world that Ukraine will win the war. It is just a matter of when.”
Help those fleeing conflict with The Sun’s Ukraine Fund
PICTURES of women and children fleeing the horror of Ukraine’s devastated towns and cities have moved Sun readers to tears.
Many of you want to help the five million caught in the chaos — and now you can, by donating to The Sun's Ukraine Fund.
Give as little as ￡3 or as much as you can afford and every penny will be donated to the Red Cross on the ground helping women, children, the old, the infirm and the wounded.
Donate here to help The Sun's fund
Or text to 70141 from UK mobiles
￡3 — text SUN￡3
￡5 — text SUN￡5
￡10 — text SUN￡10
Texts cost your chosen donation amount (e.g. ￡5) +1 standard message (we receive 100%). For full T&Cs visit redcross.org.uk/mobile
The Ukraine Crisis Appeal will support people in areas currently affected and those potentially affected in the future by the crisis.
In the unlikely event that the British Red Cross raise more money than can be reasonably and efficiently spent, any surplus funds will be used to help them prepare for and respond to other humanitarian disasters anywhere in the world.
For more information visit https://donate.redcross.org.uk/appeal/disaster-fund
5
Kateryna and Tajisia were on their way towards war-shattered Irpin when they came under fire 5
Kateryna told for the first time of her and her daughter's miracle escape Credit: Chris Eades