A number of weeks earlier, Ms. Glodan had referred to as Ms. Iliashenko to inform her that she was beginning to really feel uneasy in regards to the mounting violence. She stated she had moved her household from their high-rise condominium, near Odesa’s airport, to her mom’s dwelling within the Tairove district, which is farther from the town middle.
The two pals talked and agreed that if the condominium the household deserted was hit, it could be time to depart Odesa. Instead, the mom’s dwelling was destroyed.
The two ladies met whereas learning journalism on the University of Odesa, and since then their lives ran in tandem. After school they began their first jobs on the identical time and located husbands who grew to become good pals. They purchased neighboring flats and had been at all times rotating by way of one another’s entrance doorways, planning events, exchanging pets, taking care of vegetation and later, kids.
“We were planning on raising our families together. She was always telling me that we were in our prime, with such amazing opportunities — she believed we had great lives,” Ms. Iliashenko stated, between sobs. She spoke in a cellphone interview from Warsaw, the place she has been staying for the previous few weeks.
She described her pal as strong-willed and industrious with a heat humorousness. She liked her work in public relations, however had a expertise for portray and an ear for poetry. “She built everything that she had. I admired her very much,” Ms. Iliashenko stated.
In the weeks following the invasion, the 2 pals instructed one another they doubted the battle would come to Odesa, and so they believed the battle can be over in three weeks, Ms. Iliashenko stated. They tried to distract one another by cooking meals collectively and dreaming up holidays their households might take when the battle ended.
Ms. Glodan’s husband, Uri, who survived the assault, was across the nook at a store when the missile struck, Ms. Iliashenko stated.