30 Minutes After Evacuation, Vitalii’s Home in Druzhkivka Hit by Enemy Guided Aerial Bomb
Vitalii is 61. He was born in Druzhkivka and has lived there his entire life. He never married and lived with his mother in a three-room apartment. He got a vocational secondary education, specializing as a construction carpenter and joiner. He worked in his trade as long as his health allowed.
When he was 30, Vitalii started noticing that it was beginning to get dark for him sooner than for everyone else. It became increasingly difficult for his eyes to adjust to changes in lighting. After a medical check-up, a doctor diagnosed him with nearsightedness. His vision deteriorated rapidly: every six months his prescription changed, and his glasses became progressively stronger, eventually reaching –8.5. In 2001, Vitalii was given Group II disability status for the first time.
His family’s life changed dramatically. He could no longer work, and the money was tight. They had to sell their apartment and move into a smaller one. Still, Vitalii did his best to keep going, taking any side jobs, he could find.
“Not everything needs to be seen, sometimes it’s enough to feel with your hands. That’s how I worked,” he says.
In 2015, his mother passed away. By that time, Vitalii had already been given Group I disability status. A social worker helped him with grocery shopping and paying utility bills. Even with his vision nearly gone, he tried to remain independent — cooking and keeping the apartment clean.
“When some friends came over, we would go to the market together. I didn’t want to burden the social worker,” he recalls.
By the age of 55, he had lost his sight completely. Even then, Vitalii didn’t isolate himself: he went fishing with friends, used specialized equipment, and tried to live life to the fullest.
Vitalii was at home when the full-scale invasion began. In December 2025, a missile struck near his building. “The blast wave smashed the furniture, everything was falling on my head,” Vitalii recounts. Amid the dust and debris, he tried to find at least some clothes. Despite everything he had been through, he didn’t panic: he repaired the damaged furniture on his own and helped his neighbors.
The shelling of Druzhkivka did not stop. At the end of January 2026, the situation escalated sharply. In February, after another attack, there was no electricity, water, gas, or heating for three days. The temperature in the apartment dropped to just 5 degrees Celsius. For two days, he didn’t eat anything. Then Vitalii made the decision to evacuate. With the help of a social worker, he was able to submit a request to the East SOS call center. He packed only the most important things: his papers, some spare clothes, and his beloved audiobook player.
On February 12, 2026, Vitalii was safely evacuated with the help of the East SOS team, the State Emergency Service, and the police special unit White Angel. Just half an hour after they evacuated him, an enemy guided aerial bomb (KAB) struck his home. As he was making his way to a safer place, a neighbor called Vitalii to tell him what had happened.
As he was leaving, Vitalii wept and told the others,
“Hurry and get out while you still can.”
At the transit center in Pavlohrad, Vitalii received his first psychological support. Specialists from East SOS assisted him in completing all the required documents and arranging for financial support.
At present, Vitalii lives at the Social Adaptation Center for People with Disabilities, operated by the Ocean of Good NGO in Dnipro. He receives ongoing care, legal and psychosocial assistance, and is awaiting further relocation.
The evacuation of civilians is carried out under the project Integrated Comprehensive Support and Protection for Vulnerable Evacuees, implemented by East SOS with funding from the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund (UHF).
We’d like to share that recently, the East SOS team and Ukrzaliznytsia rescued 25 more people from the frontline areas.
