American Killed in Russian Attack on Kyiv
American artist Fred Grandy died in Kyiv on June 17 during the Russian terrorist bombing of the Ukrainian capital. He was among 28 people killed in the attack by Russian drones and missiles, writes New York Times.
Photo: Bert De Boer | Dreamstime.com
Fred Grandy, an American artist who created whimsical wooden signs and brightly colored metal flowers, came to Kyiv because he disagreed with the current U.S. stance on Russia's war with Ukraine. He felt the U.S. had turned its back on Ukraine.
Grandy arrived in Kyiv in late May, shortly before his 62nd birthday, and volunteered to help clear the rubble from the Russian attacks, family members said.
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“He was a guy who desperately wanted to do something important,” said his sister, Siska Reed, 75, who lives near Bend, Ore. “I talked to him about five days ago, and he said he was exactly where he needed to be. He was hoping he could stay another five or six months to help.”
Instead, Fred Grandy was one of at least 28 people killed in a massive Russian drone and missile attack on Kyiv that began on the night of June 17 and lasted until the following morning. Every district of the capital and its suburbs were targeted. The nine-hour attack was one of the largest of the war.
On June 18, rescuers continued to pull bodies from the rubble, and damage was recorded at more than two dozen sites. Most of the dead were in a nine-story building in Kyiv's Solomensky district, on Otradnoye. The building was almost completely destroyed. The Russian Defense Ministry, which regularly denies killing Ukrainian civilians, said the strikes had achieved their targets and hit "all designated sites."
Russian air attacks have intensified in recent weeks, further weakening already slim hopes for a ceasefire.
Since Russia began its full-scale invasion in February 2022, more than 13 civilians have died in Ukraine, according to the United Nations, although the actual number is likely much higher. However, deaths of foreign civilians in missile or drone attacks are extremely rare. Grandy appears to be the first American civilian killed in an airstrike in Kyiv.
The U.S. State Department and Ukrainian authorities have confirmed that a U.S. citizen died in Ukraine on June 17. Ukrainian authorities said the American died from shrapnel wounds.
Grandy came to Ukraine in large part because of the U.S.’s dramatic shift in its stance on the Russia-Ukraine war, his older sister said. Under President Joseph Biden Jr., the U.S. was Ukraine’s biggest ally. But the current White House chief has backed Russian leader Vladimir Putin, echoed Kremlin talking points, and publicly criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
According to Reed, her brother was outraged: "Fred believed that this kind of thing should not be allowed to happen, and that people should not be abandoned. And then he saw how hard the Ukrainians were fighting for their country, and he believed that people needed help."
Grandy, according to his sister, was working with a charity in Kyiv, but it is not known which one. Several foundations recruit volunteers to help clear the rubble of airstrikes. Grandy told his sister that he was staying at a hotel. He reported that drones were flying nearby and joked that he was going to throw clothes hangers at them.
Fred Grandy was born in Grants Pass, Oregon, and grew up in a family with five sisters and a brother. The family moved frequently from city to city in the Western United States. The artist's father was an electrician and worked on large government projects. As the sixth child, one of the youngest, Grandy was accustomed to being teased by his elders.
"We had our own language," said the youngest sister, Juanita Grandy, 59. "I still can't believe he died."
Grandy had been married, but the marriage had not worked out. He had no children. He liked to lie about his age because, as Sitska said, he considered himself "perpetually 39."
In his Facebook profile picture, Grandy posed with a clown nose. Over the years, he worked as a bartender and a bouncer. However, in recent years, he made a living making various crafts. According to his family, he made birdhouses, planters, and signs from reclaimed wood, and created flowers from metal.
On his Facebook page, Fred posted a fortune cookie note that read: "You will be lucky and overcome many difficulties."
In the photos, he smiles widely, hugs Sitska tightly, poses with his signs, and travels to places like Quartsite, Arizona, and Tehachapi, California.
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"He was an artist and did a lot of creative projects in his life, and that's how he made ends meet," said Julie Haugen, 58, a close friend of Grandy's for more than 35 years. "He wasn't rich."
In November, Grandy sold his three-bedroom house with a huge walnut tree in Franklin, Virginia. He lived for a while with relatives in Vancouver, Washington. Then he traveled to Europe, visiting France, Germany, and Poland before coming to Ukraine.
"We're just incredibly proud of him. And we're really hurt," Reed concluded.
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