Cypriot family fears son may be dead in Mariupol

A young man who lived with his family in Cyprus and ended up joining Russia-backed rebels in Ukraine is feared dead, with his mother calling on the Cypriot government to help bring his body back for burial.

According to Philenews, a 29-year-old male who grew up in Cyprus and left for Ukraine in 2009 is thought to have been killed in Mariupol one month ago, with his mother desperately trying to ascertain her son’s fate but not getting any confirmation.

“He used to live with us and he left Cyprus in 2009 to attend his father’s funeral,” his mom told Philenews.

Son decided to join the fight back in 2014

According to mother, who lives on the island with her husband and four young children, her son decided to stay in Donetsk after the funeral and cared for his grandparents until they passed away.

But in 2014, as he was getting his paperwork ready to travel back to Cyprus, civil war broke out in Ukraine.

“I told him we ought to get things ready to have him come to Cyprus but he said he would stay and fight,” the mother said.

He was then sent to Mariupol after Russian troops invaded earlier this year. After not hearing anything since mother and son last spoke on April 3, the distraught woman managed last week to get information that her son had been killed on April 14 when a hand grenade exploded.

“They just sent two photos to my nephew and told him if this is the guy, he’s dead,” the mother said, adding she received nothing of her son’s belongings. 

But the mother is now calling on the Cypriot government to help confirm what happened to her son and bring his body to the island for burial amid fears he might end up in a mass grave.

“I want to bring my child home, his family is here, his siblings are here,” she said, adding she is calling on the Cypriot government to help.

“I’m Cypriot, I have been living here for 12 years and I have Cypriot nationality. I want them to help me,” she said.

Her Greek Cypriot husband told Philenews that the family’s efforts through the foreign ministry have led nowhere as they were given Ukrainian contact numbers.

“How can we call up the Ukrainians and tell them our son used to fight for the Russians, how are they going to help us?” he asked.

“The only thing we want is to bring our child here. He may not be my own son, but I raised him,” he added.