“Looking for my beloved husband,” she wrote on Facebook, describing what 27-year-old Evgeny was wearing when he left for his shift at the mall. “My dear, I believe you are alive,” he added. But after so many days of waiting, her hope was fading. The hospitals said they didn’t have him. The police couldn’t find him either. Neither did the employees at the home electronics store where he worked as a sales consultant.
Read more: Anger and concern at the scene of the Russian missile attack on a mall in Ukraine
“I just want him to be alive,” Hrychai said in an interview in Kremenchuk, the city southwest of Kiev where they both grew up and celebrated their first anniversary on June 11. Story continues below ad Twenty-one people are now confirmed dead after Monday’s cruise missile attack, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said Saturday. Another 66 were injured. Work continues to identify more than a dozen human remains recovered at the site of one of the deadliest attacks of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia admitted it targeted the mall but called it a military target and denied there were any civilian casualties. Both claims were dismissed as false. A vehicle factory 500 meters away was also hit. Sabina Hrytsai’s husband, Evgeny, is missing since Monday’s mall attack in Kremenchuk, Ukraine, July 1, 2022. Stewart Bell/Global News An air raid alert was launched about 10 minutes before the missiles exploded just before 4pm But Hrytsai told Global News that just days before the attack, her husband said the mall had adopted a new policy on responding to sirens. Story continues below ad Instead of closing when it sounded, the mall should have remained open and workers made their own decisions about whether to shelter, he said. “It shouldn’t be like this,” said Hrytsai. “We have a war in the country, so the rules must be followed. If you have a siren, things like malls should be shut down.” Evgeny was always diligent about finding shelter, and whenever the sirens went off, the newlyweds called each other to make sure they were safe, she said. Trending Stories
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Newlyweds Sabina Hrytsai, left, and Evgeny, missing from Monday’s Russian missile attack on a shopping center in Kremenchuk, Ukraine. Facebook
“And why he didn’t leave the mall on the 27th, I don’t know. Maybe because he had a client,” he said. “He was constantly worried that he would make less money.” Another mall employee who survived the attack said from his hospital bed that he had seen a post on social media advising that the mall should remain open during air raid sirens. Story continues below ad Kremenchuk Mayor Vitalii Maletskyi said an investigation found that a June 23 message from the mall’s management advised that “from that day on, they will not be closed during an airstrike,” Poltava News reported. Emergency workers search the Amstor shopping center after a Russian missile attack, June 28, 2022. Stewart Bell/Global News Walking her two dogs in a park in the school yard, Hrytsai said they missed Eugene and were waiting for him to come home. “They are our children,” he said. “Because we didn’t have time to have children of our own.” “He was a very kind person, very open,” she said. “He constantly provided me with everything. He kept telling me “I don’t want you to work in a job you don’t like”. “That’s why he worked there in that very place, because before the war it was one of the places in town that had a good salary.” Story continues below ad After the Russian invasion on February 24, he worried about losing his job, he said. Monday was supposed to be Eugene’s day off, but he was called, he added. The couple argued before leaving for work because he didn’t want to go. He wanted to quit and find a new job that treated him better, but he wanted to find a new job first. “I didn’t even say goodbye to him, I was so upset,” she said. Newlyweds Sabina Hrytsai, left, and Evgeny, who has been missing since Monday’s Russian attack on the Amstor mall. Facebook He was at home when he heard the explosions. He called Evgeny but he didn’t answer. He thought he was in an underground bunker. When he didn’t call, she thought he was still upset about their argument and then saw a photo of the Amstor Mall fire. Story continues below ad He ran there but couldn’t find him, so he went to Kremenchuk Hospital. “But I’m told we don’t have your husband anywhere,” she said. “So until today, I wait.” [email protected] © 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
