A 13-year-old boy from Sumy, Kyrylo Iliashenko, was traveling on a bus with his mother when a Russian missile struck nearby. The explosion caused a fire in the vehicle, and the doors became jammed.
However, Kyrylo remained calm – he climbed out of the window and began helping other passengers escape from the burning interior.
He shared his experience during a broadcast of the "Unified News" telethon.
"At that moment, I wasn't thinking – I was acting. I just did everything on adrenaline," the teenager said about his efforts to save the passengers.
He added that he had no prior experience or training in emergency response.
The boy also recounted his memories of the incident to journalists from "Kordon.Media".
"We were driving along Bankova Street when I heard a whistling sound and saw something falling. Then came the screams of people and the shattering of windows. I fell, and glass rained down on me. Initially, I had a slight concussion, and all the sounds became muffled.
I looked left and right and smelled smoke. I thought the bus was on fire or could catch fire. I quickly got up and tried to unlock the bus doors. It didn't work, so I threw my bag out of the window and jumped out, then started opening the doors from outside," the teenager recalled.
The other passengers were silent, shocked by the situation. Once the doors were finally opened, Kyrylo began to help people out. His mother's face was bloodied, and he admits that he was very scared for her.
As a result of the attack, Kyrylo himself was injured – three fragments struck his head. One of them, the largest metal shard, has already been removed by doctors. The other two, according to medical professionals, will remain because they are positioned too deeply. Kyrylo's life is not in danger, but he is still under medical supervision.
His mother, Marina, admits that she still cannot recover from the experience.
"It's hard to close my eyes – that image is always in my mind. We didn't sleep all night. Emotionally, it is very difficult. I was on the bus and saw how my son helped. In that moment, I realized that I raised a true man," his mother proudly adds.
Kyrylo is in the eighth grade at Sumy School No. 4 and practices wrestling at the local children's and youth sports school.
On the institution's page, they called Kyrylo's act an example of true heroism and thanked his parents for raising such a son.
Kyrylo's actions were also recognized by Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, who visited him during a working trip to Sumy.
"The whole country is now thanking Kyrylo for his actions. This is our new generation of Heroes: brave, decisive, and selfless," emphasized the Minister of Internal Affairs.