Police find body of 8-year-old boy's father from Kharkiv: child took DNA test

Ukrainska Pravda — Tuesday, 28 May 2024, 12:01

Experts have managed to identify the body of the father of 8-year-old Mykhailo from Kharkiv, who had previously taken a DNA test to help find his father. The child's father worked at the Epicentr home improvement hypermarket which was attacked by the Russians on 25 May.

The National Police of Ukraine reported the results of the forensic analysis of the 38-year-old man's body.

On 26 May, Mykhailo’s father never came home from work. Mykhailo went with his mother to the headquarters of the investigation department, which had been set up near the destroyed Epicentr. There, the boy underwent a DNA sampling procedure, the samples from which were later used by experts to identify the deceased.

As of 06:00 on 28 May, the National Police had identified 16 bodies, law enforcement officials said. In total, 18 people died in the attack and 48 others were injured.

On 27 May, local services found unexploded munitions 80 metres from the Epicentr home improvement hypermarket, which indicates a "deliberate tactic by the Russian Federation aimed at destroying the civilian population of Kharkiv".

Background: 

  • On Saturday afternoon, Russian forces struck the Epicentr home improvement hypermarket in Kharkiv, claiming the lives of 15 people and leaving 25 injured
  • It took over 16 hours to extinguish the fire in Epicentr caused by Russian strikes.
  • On the morning of 27 May, Serhii Bolvinov, the head of the Kharkiv Oblast police investigation department, said that the body of a 17-year-old boy who was in Epicentr at the time of the attack had been found and identified by DNA samples.
  • Later, the head of the Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration said that the death toll in the attack on the Epicentr home improvement hypermarket had risen to 18, with 48 more people injured.

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