Sasha and Ruslan, the two Ukrainian boys hosted in Italy after the Chernobyl disaster died in war

The numerous victims caused by the war in Ukraine may also directly involve Italy. An emblematic example is represented by the story of Sasha and Ruslan, two Ukrainian children who in the 1980s, after the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe, found a second home in two families from Brescia during their summer rehabilitation stays. The two boys died in war during the Russian bombings in Chernihiv in recent days.

The rehabilitation stays

These “rehabilitation stays” were aimed at offering children coming from the areas most affected by the nuclear disaster a healthy and safe environment, far from radioactive contamination. Hundreds of Ukrainian and Belarusian children were welcomed every year, many of them orphans or from families in difficulty. In the Brescia area, in Darfo Boario Terme, Sasha and Ruslan were welcomed. There they spent their summers as children, participating in local activities and integrating into community life.

The death

Sasha and Ruslan have always carried with them the memories of the Italian summers, a bond that remained strong even when, as adults, they chose to enlist to defend their homeland. The news of their deaths, during the Russian bombing in Chernihiv, brought to light the depth and complexity of these transnational ties. The “DomaniZavtra” association of Darfo Boario Terme, which has maintained contact with many of the children welcomed, expressed to Corriere della Sera its pain and determination in supporting the families of Sasha and Ruslan, underlining how they were considered an integral part of the their large extended family.

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