“But unfortunately during this walk to Kyiv, he was killed and he was shot.”Īll Together! had reported him missing March 10 after a lengthy search. “As we understand for now, and as he explained to us before, he was walking to Kyiv to our office to stay there during this occupation period of Bucha,” Kukharchuk said. He chose to walk, last communicating with friends as he left his home March 6. Vinogradov had limited options of walking to Kyiv or finding a car, because he had no personal transportation. He asked, if he were able … if he could walk from Bucha to Kyiv … about 10 miles … to move to our office to stay there, because it was really dangerous to stay in Bucha, which was already occupied by Russian troops,” Kukharchuk said days after Vinogradov’s body was found. “And almost all people who were trying to escape the city, to go out of city, was under a risk, because Russian soldiers did not allow anybody to move, even just to walk.
“It was really dangerous, at the beginning of March, because from the first of March, Bucha was totally occupied by Russian soldiers,” Kukharchuk said. Vinogradov had been missing since March 6 when he left his Bucha home attempting to walk to the office of All Together!, a Christian pro-family ministry in Ukraine where he served as a board member, All Together! leader Ruslan Kukharchuk, a close friend and ministry associate of Vinogradov, told Baptist Press. Vinogradov was fleeing Russian occupation of Bucha, attempting to walk 10 miles to safety in Kyiv, when Russian forces killed him and left his body on a local street. … He will be greatly missed.”Īfter Ukraine pushed back Russian forces nearly 40 days into Russia’s invasion, news images were released showing lifeless bodies of men, women and children strewn on the streets of Kyiv and surrounding communities, including Bucha, with the latest death count at 410. We will all miss him dearly on this earth, but we are glad that his life goes on forever. “There are no words to express all the heartache. “Vitaly Volodymyrovich Vinogradov our dear brother, Christian leader, employee and a wonderful person, was found dead in Bucha,” posted Kim Bien Bum, principal of Kiev Slavic Evangelical Seminary and pastor of Christ’s Blessing Church. The dean of a small evangelical seminary in Kyiv is among more than 400 civilians found dead on the streets in and around Ukraine’s capital city, the seminary confirmed early April 4 on Facebook.