This article contains details some readers may find upsetting.
A Ukrainian resident of Hostomel told the New York Post that after Russian troops opened fire at him on Sunday, they insisted their real target was the United States and not Ukraine.
"We’re not at war with Ukraine and Ukrainians, but at war with the USA inside Ukraine," Igor Sitalo, 55, claimed the Russian soldiers told him.
Sitalo had attempted to flee the town with his German shepherd when a bullet struck his hand, grazed his head, and killed his dog.
"A doctor tried to save him. But he passed. He would have been eight years old this month," Sitalo told the outlet in between tears.
The Russian soldiers then reportedly confronted Sitalo, checking his identification documents and claiming their real enemy was the U.S.
Sitalo, an aviation engineer who has worked for U.S. tech companies, drove his damaged car to Vorzel after the incident, where he waited for an evacuation passage to emerge on Wednesday.
The engineer is now waiting at a transition point in Bilohorodka with hundreds of other evacuees, unsure how to reach his wife and children and heartbroken over the death of his dog.
Convoys brought around 800 civilians to the Bilohorodka transition point on Wednesday, where Ukrainians can receive medical care, food, and shelter amid harsh weather.
The Post reported about a young mother at the site cradling her newborn. She gave birth in Vorzel while it was attacked last week and said she was forced to leave her two older children behind with relatives.
In tears, the mother told the outlet she would see them, "Soon. Soon."
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