A Ukrainian child lost his mom and was left with burns on nearly half his body after a Russian missile strike earlier this month.
According to a report by CBS News, seven-year-old Roman was with his mother in the central Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia when the strike hit on July 14.
His mom, Galyna Oleksiv, was one of at least 23 people killed in the attack.
In an interview with Current Time, Roman's father Yaroslav Oleksiv described the devastating moment that the missile hit.
"The explosion threw his body and that ended up saving him," he said. "He was picked up right away and an ambulance arrived immediately."
Yaroslav explained that when his son was found, he told those helping him that he had been with his mother and she was buried in the rubble.
"All the bodies they found from this shock wave, they were all badly burned...many had their limbs ripped off. None of the bodies remained fully intact," he continued.
"The doctors said they found some fabric with some writing on it. We knew that [Roman's mother] had a T-shirt like that. ... Plus, she had braces, and we could [identify her] by the braces," he said, before saying how they confirmed her death with a DNA test.
While Roman survived the blast, the seven-year-old has a long road to recovery. The Medical Association of Lviv explained in a Facebook post that 45% of his body is covered in external burns, while another 35% of his body is burned internally. He has been transferred to a hospital in Germany where he will undergo significant medical treatment, including skin grafts and plastic surgery.
"[The burns] are so deep in places that they even reach bones," the post reads per a translation. "Burn face, upper and lower limbs, airway [...] a closed fracture of his left hand and several shell fractures in his skull."
Photos of the injured child show him wrapped almost from head to toe in gauze as he awaits treatment.
In the wake of the missile strike, President Zelensky condemned it as "an open act of terrorism" against civilians per Reuters. At least 23 were killed and over 90 more injured.
If you would like to know how you can support the Ukrainian people at this time, click HERE to find a list of organizations and groups dedicated to helping those affected by this crisis.
