72-year-old Valentyn Klishko died in a Berdyansk hospital from severe gunshot wounds sustained that same day during an evacuation from Mariupol. On the morning of March 18, 2022, he got into a volunteer car, reached the intersection between Budivelnykiv Avenue and Shevchenko Boulevard, and came under fire. The driver survived and managed to take the wounded man to the hospital, but Valentyn passed away during surgery around 6:00 PM.
"My family and I lived in the 17th district, and my father lived in the 20th. Before the war, he caught COVID-19. On February 22, he was diagnosed with pneumonia, and two days later, the full-scale war began. I managed to buy medicine, ran over to his place, and gave him injections. This was possible until March 7 or 8. Shells were flying overhead, and shrapnel was falling. When visiting my father became impossible due to the shelling, he had to give himself the injections," said his daughter, Yulia Mazur.
On March 11, 2022, a piece of shrapnel flew into Yulia's apartment, injuring her younger daughter's friend. Yulia's husband and a neighbor drove her and another injured person to the hospital. On the way, the car was shot at; the passengers managed to survive and made it to the hospital.
"On March 16, we gathered all the wounded and left for Zaporizhzhia. I couldn't reach my father because heavy fighting was raging on Shevchenko Boulevard, where he lived. I asked volunteers to pick him up. On March 18, the car carrying my dad was shot. He suffered severe wounds, with his liver, lungs, and kidneys shot through..." Yulia recalled.
Valentyn Klishko was a native of Mariupol. For over 20 years, he worked as an equipment repair foreman at the Ilyich Iron and Steel Works. He also repaired cranes at the Mariupol Port. Later in life, he was retired. Valentyn's daughter and son-in-law had rebuilt his house in the village of Pishchane, and Valentyn could not wait to move into the renovated home.
"Dad was calm, kind, never said a bad word about anyone, and never hurt anyone. A wonderful person, a great father. He was also a musician, playing drums in the vocal-instrumental ensemble 'Argonavty.' It was a well-known band in Mariupol back in the day. My mother sang there, and Dad was the drummer," his daughter shared.
Yulia's friends buried Valentyn in Berdyansk.
He is survived by his daughter, son-in-law, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and sister.
At 9:00 AM—the national minute of silence. The Donetsk Regional Military Administration and the Memorial Platform: Victims of the War remember the residents of Donetsk Oblast killed by Russians.