In August 2026, Oleksandr Kucher’s family home in the village of Pukhivka, Kyiv region, was attacked by five russian strike drones at once. The enemy Shaheds fell one after another, with intervals ranging from several minutes to tens of seconds. That horrific night, the man lost three of his closest family members in an instant: his six-year-old son Dmytro and both of his 70-year-old parents – his mother Halyna Petrivna and his father Petro Mykhailovych. 

The first drone hit the room where Oleksandr’s sons were sleeping. The man crawled out from under the rubble and rushed there, shouting: “Dima, Dima!”, but inside there was already nothing but flames. His middle son Volodymyr miraculously survived because he had left the children’s room moments before the strike. While Oleksandr desperately searched for little Dmytro among the debris, hoping that the child had been thrown clear by the blast wave, the strikes continued. The third drone struck the yard, where the man’s mother was standing. Oleksandr’s father was hurrying to help her when the fourth explosion happened… His parents were killed. 

Oleksandr himself suffered serious injuries during the explosions: after another strike, the man was thrown by the blast wave, sustaining a back injury and severe concussion. His wife Olha was also badly injured that night. The woman suffered deep wounds and burns covering about 30% of her body.

The most painful words for the man were those spoken by his son a month before the tragedy. They were returning from nursery when an air raid alert began, and little Dmytro suddenly asked: “Dad, is that an air raid alert? Am I going to die?” Oleksandr recalls that he picked up his son and began to reassure him: “Son, why would you die? You’re still so little...”

Oleksandr shares his story with the Museum of Civilian Voices so that the world will learn about this crime and those responsible will be brought to justice for the killing of his son and parents.