Young woman injured in Russian attack on Uman is in intensive care after her leg was amputated up to the hip
Russia launched a missile strike on the city of Uman, in Ukraine’s Cherkasy Oblast, late on 8 June. Eight civilians were injured in the attack.
Olena Holubenko, 26, sustained some of the most severe injuries. She has had her leg amputated and remains in a critical condition.
Kseniia Holubenko, the wife of Olena’s brother-in-law, told Ukrainska Pravda about the Russian missile strike and Olena’s current condition.
"I was mourning the events in Kakhovka, and thought yesterday that it was impossible to imagine things getting any worse than that, and that very evening, after my workout, I found out that things could indeed get worse! My dear Lenochka [an affectionate form of Olena – ed.] has been horrifically injured by a missile fragment in Uman," Kseniia said.
Kseniia Holubenko told Ukrainska Pravda that Olena’s seven-year-old daughter was playing with her friend at the family’s neighbours’ place when the missile attack occurred. Olena’s husband, a long-haul trucker, was in Odesa.
Olena had gone to get groceries at a local store. An air-raid warning was issued as she was heading there. She had nowhere to hide; there was only a car wash near her.
Kseniia said Olena was on the phone with her husband and told him a projectile was probably heading their way. Soon after she said that, Olena’s husband heard an explosion, and the connection broke. Olena was right by the missile’s impact site.
"Doctors attended to her immediately," Kseniia said, recalling what Olena’s relatives who were with her at the time had told her.
Doctors at an Uman hospital battled to save Olena’s life all night long. She underwent surgery – she had to have her leg amputated up to the hip – and was given blood transfusions.
Olena regained consciousness the next morning and was transferred to a hospital in Kyiv. She is currently in intensive care, and doctors are continuing their fight to keep her alive.
"Olena is still very weak, the doctors can’t make any forecasts; she sustained the most severe injuries out of anyone [injured in Russian strike on 8 June]," Kseniia said.
She added that Olena’s father has taken his daughter’s injury very hard.
"Just imagine how impossibly hard it is to look at your disfigured child – and he’d just buried his wife, Olena’s mother," Kseniia explained.
Olena is a kindergarten teacher.
"Olena is a real ray of sunshine. She’s someone who’s always very kind to everyone. At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, she and I helped our relatives and friends in Kyiv evacuate. We lived together during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Of course no one deserves this, but if you ask why it had to be her, there would be no answer," Olena’s friend stressed.
Olena’s relatives are currently looking for medical experts, especially doctors abroad, who might be able to help with her rehabilitation.
"They’re appealing to charitable foundations who are working with cases like hers…
Every moment I have tears streaming down my face… But I know they won’t help," Kseniia said.
Anyone can help fund Olena’s recovery by donating at this link.
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