We gathered at the home of Oleg Gryb, 47, the couple’s eldest son, a doctor. Immediately after the outbreak of war, he packed his wife and two children to Switzerland, joined the Territorial Defense Force (similar to the National Guard), and brought his skills as a doctor. Emergency room surgeon and anesthesiologist at work.
His parents and younger brother, Sergiy, a financial advisor, moved in to take care of the house and the cat. As we ate, Mrs. Gryb carefully ironed her son’s uniform.
“When I enlisted on February 27, I told my commander that I was a Christian and a doctor and I wanted to get people off the battlefield and save lives,” said Dr. Gryb, wearing a suit. olive green military uniform, said. told me earlier, when we met at a rundown self-service restaurant near his base.
When he was young in Odesan, he said, he thought China might invade Russia and then he would fight to protect the brotherhood of the Slavic peoples. “Fighting against the Orthodox, which I could never have imagined,” he said.
Dr. Gryb’s world has been destroyed. His private clinic, which treats addictions and Covid, is a financial success. He recently remodeled his spacious home on a typical Odesan courtyard – vines grow in trellis, roses crisscross the walls, the scent of honeysuckle lingers, and the scents of honeysuckle lingers. close, even strict, neighbors are observed.
Dr Gryb’s son, 5, and daughter, 12, will be playing there. Now he remembers them deeply.
“I told my family they had to go away for another year,” Dr. Gryb said around the dinner table. “The Russians will attack. They will eventually target Odesa. Putin wants to destroy us.”
