An total household worn out by Putin: Yuriy Glodan was out shopping for groceries when a Russian cruise missile struck killed his child daughter, spouse and her mom. Then he misplaced his life in a front-line drone assault

Last summer, Olena Zelenska, Ukraine‘s First Lady, told me something that saddened her to the depths of her soul. Of all the tragedies to befall her stricken country since the war began, one ranked in her mind above all others.

It was the story of how three generations of a single family – grandmother, daughter and granddaughter – were obliterated one Saturday morning in April 2022 when a Russian cruise missile hit their apartment block in Odesa. 

Mrs Zelenska didn’t refer to the family by name but after our interview I resolved to learn more about them, and, in particular, the man who by chance escaped the missile that day but in doing so lost everything he loved most in the world.

That man was 30-year-old Yuriy Glodan, once a gifted student who gave up a promising career as a lawyer to become a chef and baker, renowned for making the best croissants in Odesa. 

On April 23, he had a day off work when, after going to the shops, he returned to find that the missile had ripped through the lower floors of his building.

Pushing past police at the entrance, he ran inside the burning building and, reaching what remained of their flat on the fourth floor, frantically clawed through the rubble.

He found the body of his 28-year-old wife Valeria, the woman he called ‘perfect… a gift from God’ and his mother-in-law Lyudmila, but there was no trace of his three-month-old daughter Kira, whose birth had been ‘the happiest day’ of his life.

Hope conquered reason and he thought perhaps a miracle had spared her. But he was wrong. She was later found by an emergency worker.

Afterwards, he spoke to his mother. ‘He told me that his family no longer existed,’ said 52-year-old Nina Glodan. ‘I can’t imagine what he must have seen with his own eyes.’

At the funeral, Yuriy tried hard to stay strong. But nobody who bore witness to his pain that day will forget the way he suddenly dissolved and flung himself forward, pressing his cheek against Kira’s tiny amber casket.

In the months after the massacre, Yuriy was inconsolable.

‘He lost a part of himself and he lost the purpose for life,’ said his mother.

Crystallising in his mind, though, was the belief that he must take up arms. Not just out of revenge – he had called Putin a terrorist – but to defend his country and its people.

And so, against the wishes of his parents who felt a terrible foreboding, the former lawyer joined the 3rd Assault Brigade on March 1, 2023, insisting he wanted to be an infantry soldier fighting on the front line.

One of his new comrades, Dmytro Hudz, a boxing coach, was also from Odesa and had heard the tragic story of the bombed apartment block but was unaware of Yuriy’s connection. 

‘To start with, Yuriy was not very talkative. He always seemed nervous, agitated, stressed,’ Dmytro told me.

Then, one day on the front line in eastern Ukraine, Yuriy opened up about the tragedy. Dmytro responded by giving him a hug and they soon became the best of friends. 

‘When I got to know him, I found he was a decent, open, kind, loyal, attentive man,’ he said. Despite having no military experience, Yuriy soon became a skilled soldier.

‘It was interesting to observe how Yuriy grew into a warrior,’ said Dmytro. ‘He was such a good shot that he was considered for sniper training.’

In the summer of 2023, Yuriy was involved in the battle for the eastern city of Bakhmut, the longest and bloodiest of the war. Russia had been trying to capture it for months, but Ukraine was determined not to give ground.

From each brutal skirmish Yuriy always managed to emerge unscathed. Many of his comrades believed that, due to a mixture of instinct and luck, he would never be killed or injured. 

‘He saved a lot of lives in combat, dragging several wounded comrades to safety. He was also good at giving medical aid and he always had a knack of avoiding shells,’ Dmytro said.

But his parents’ greatest fear was realised on September 12 that year when, in an appalling postscript to an already tragic story, Yuriy’s luck finally failed him.

‘He thought a miracle would save Kira. He was wrong’.

At first, they were told he was missing, feared dead. He was last seen attaching a tourniquet to an injury, before rolling into a shell crater for safety, only to be deliberately targeted by a Russian drone. 

However, it was not until October 30 that Yuriy’s decomposed body could be recovered from the battlefield and not until the following January that DNA tests supplied final confirmation.

Yuriy’s father said: ‘We were desperate with grief. He was the best son anyone could have wanted. All my friends were jealous that I had such a wonderful son. He set an example to others. I was so proud of him.’

Mr Glodan and his wife shared their memories of ‘a kind, thoughtful, sweet boy, who was also a leader’ and ‘always surrounded by friends who looked up to him’.

After leaving school, he won a place at the prestigious Odesa National Law Academy, where he met his future wife.

‘Valeria was smart – an intelligent young woman and also, like our son, very kind. It was love at first sight – they were just made for each other,’ Mrs Glodan said. They shared many hobbies including travel, photography and a love of museums.

After graduating, Yuriy became a solicitor, while she worked in public relations. Their home was a one-bedroom flat in Odesa and Valeria’s mother, Lyudmila, lived in a bigger, two-bedroom flat nearby.

After dating for five years, the couple married in a civic ceremony in August 2019 in front of 40 guests. ‘It was a magical day,’ said Mrs Glodan.

Some time before their first child was born, Yuriy gave up his role as a solicitor. His love of cooking went back to his student days and he decided to make his passion his vocation, accepting a job with the bakery Make My Cake. Kira was born on January 4, 2022, less than two months before Russia invaded Ukraine.

‘Kira was the centre of his universe,’ said Mrs Glodan. Her husband added: ‘He adored her and he wanted to be the best possible father to take care of her.’

While many Ukrainians quickly fled their country, the Glodans were convinced there would soon be peace and everything would return to normal. With a seven-week-old baby making travel difficult, the couple stayed in Odesa.

When the attacks on the city intensified, they spent a month living with friends who had a basement bunker, where they could all shelter during the bombings. However, by late April 2022, with fewer Russian attacks, the Glodans and their daughter decided to move into the bigger flat belonging to Valeria’s mother.

It was there, on the fourth-floor, that the three generations were living on April 23, 2022, when the missile struck.

Yuriy was eventually buried next to his wife and daughter in the town of Avangard, near Odesa, where the couple had hoped to build a family home. ‘He loved his family and would have wanted to be close to them in death,’ said his mother.

Dmytro, 36, who has now left the army, still visits his friend’s grave every weekend. ‘I have the warmest, fondest memories of Yuriy,’ he said. ‘He wasn’t just a comrade: he was like a brother to me. He was a wonderful character with an inner light and a big heart.’

‘Everyone blames one man for the tragedy: Putin’

Artem Syritka, 33, a construction manager who met Yuriy and Valeria when they were all students and who attended their wedding and Yuriy’s funeral, said of his close friend: ‘He was really cool. He always stood out because he was a leader. We all felt we were under his wing and he helped us become men who all looked out for each other.

‘Yuriy and Valeria complemented each other – they were so well-suited and they loved each other very much.’

Yuriy, Valeria and Kira will never be forgotten. In Odesa, there is a street that has been named in memory of the Glodan family and there are other memorials for them in south-east Ukraine, too.

Everyone close to the family blames one man for the tragedy: Vladimir Putin. Mrs Glodan said of the Russian leader: ‘He needs to be accountable for everything he has done, all the misery he has caused to our family and to many other families too. Regardless of how this war ends, he needs to be brought in front of an international court.’

More than a year after her son’s death was confirmed, her grief is still raw. With tears once again rolling down her face, she said: ‘As a mother I still can’t believe all this has happened. Even now, every day I am waiting for my son to come home.’

Lord Ashcroft KCMG PC is an international businessman, philanthropist, author and pollster. For more information on his work, visit lordashcroft.com. Follow him on X/Facebook @LordAshcroft.