On July 8, 2024, Kyiv endured one of the largest missile attacks of the war. At the time, the world’s attention was focused on the strike against Okhmatdyt. Yet on that same day, tragedy also struck on the left bank of the capital, at the Adonis Medical Centre, where nine people were killed. Among them was ultrasound specialist Viktor Brahutsa, Svitlana’s husband and the father of two daughters. 

For the family, it is extremely important to preserve the memory not only of Viktor, but also of all his colleagues who were killed at their workplace:  doctor Svitlana Poplavska, senior nurse Tetiana Sharova, senior cashier Viktoriia Bondarenko, and housekeeping nurse Oksana Korzh. That terrible day, the clinic also lost two patients and two other people who were inside the building. 

After the explosion, Svitlana spent several hours searching for her husband in hospitals across the city. She did not know where he might have been taken, and until the very end she believed that he was alive. Only towards evening was she given the most devastating news. 

It was not easy for the family to recall July 8, 2024. Nevertheless, Svitlana and her elder daughter Kateryna agreed to be interviewed in order to preserve the memory of Viktor Brahutsa and the people who died alongside him at the medical centre.