Schoolboy killed by Russian drone in front of his mother while writing homework on not allowing 'powerful to oppress the defenceless'

Schoolboy Daniel Umansky was finishing his homework when the Russian drone struck his apartment.He had just written that Volodymyr II of Kyiv, a 12th century ruler of Ukraine’s medieval kingdom, 'did not allow the powerful to oppress the poor and defenceless'.The 14-year-old wrote the words 'Modern adaptation' beneath and was thinking of a contemporary equivalent when the jet-powered Shahed smashed into his home at 500kmh (300mph).Those were Daniel’s last written words. He was killed instantly in front of his mother’s eyes in their Kyiv flat at 8am on September 25.Amidst the rubble, his unfinished homework – bloodied and shredded by the blast – remained open on the page he had left it on that morning.'I wasn't in a state to take in such details at first, I was detached from reality,' Daniel's distraught father Zorick, 53, told the Mail. 'Then I realised how symbolic it was.'He spoke of his son's death for the first time as Vladimir Putin barraged Ukraine today with 70 ballistic missiles to mark the dictator's 74th birthday. Daniel Umansky, 14, was a foodie who dreamt of visiting the Basque Country and Japan to sample the cuisine He had just written that Volodymyr II of Kyiv, a 12th century ruler of Ukraine’s medieval kingdom, 'did not allow the powerful to oppress the poor and defenceless'.The vile attacks destroyed a residential apartment block in the northern region of Chernihiv that left nine dead including three children.Moscow also torched infrastructure across Kyiv with at least 15 killed in total and dozens more injured across the country.Speaking through tears, Zorick called on the world to 'pay attention to what Russia is doing'.He has still been unable to talk fully with his wife, Natalia, 43, a hotel sales manager about what she witnessed.'We have tried,' says Zorick, who was asleep when the drone hit. 'We're still afraid to go into all the details.'Because, unlike me, she saw it happen in front of her eyes. The difference in our experiences is probably 15 seconds.'But those 15 seconds that she experienced and I didn't were the hardest, the toughest, the cruellest in any person's life.'Luckily, her injuries are not serious. Soon, physically at least, she will be okay. The biggest trauma, as you understand, is psychological. It's in our souls.'The Jewish family moved to Ukraine from Israel years before the full-scale invasion. When Russia invaded, they moved back to Tel Aviv but returned to Kyiv after the October 7 terror atrocity and the war it sparked the following year. The Jewish family moved to Ukraine from Israel years before the full-scale invasionDaniel's last conversation with his father the night before had been about his dream to live in a country that was safe.'Daniel was living in two countries where there was a constant threat to life,' Zorick said.'His dream was that his children would never face that. He was asking me which countries could fulfil his dream. That was his big dream.'It was probably one of the last conversations we had. Then he went to sleep, and I never saw him alive again.'The first week was extremely tough. Whenever I closed my eyes, I saw my son covered in blood. It was physically and emotionally very difficult.'Zorick, a professional wine expert, and his wife, along with their surviving son Mikhail, 20, have now returned to Tel Aviv and repatriated Daniel's body. Friends planted flowers in his memory in Kyiv.'There is nothing I regret telling him or not telling him,' Zorick says. 'My only regret is that I couldn't save him. I didn't defend him enough.'And probably my regret is that we didn't leave Kyiv. He would be alive now had we not been in Kyiv at that moment.' The jet-powered Shahed smashed into Daniel's apartment at 500kmh (300mph).Zorick says he talks about his son - a foodie who dreamt of visiting the Basque Country and Japan to sample the cuisine - 'constantly' and thinks of him 'every minute.'We always recall funny moments,' he said. 'It makes us cry sometimes, but we do it.'Every second, you look at the places where we were together. I remember him catching lizards.'It's small things, like when you go into the sea and see fish, a lot of fish. You want to call out, “Daniel, come and see. Daniel, look how many fish there are here.”'Russia sends hundreds of drones at Ukrainian civilians every night, with the new jet-powered Shaheds that killed Daniel being much harder to shoot down.Now they are aiming to destroy Kyiv's two main bridges that link the capital.'Do you know any other city in the world right now, a city with a population of five million, which is trying to survive?' Zorick said.'I don't know any other city like that. Russians are trying to make Kyiv impossible to live in.They carry out psychological terror. But Ukraine is not trending now. There are other trends. I would ask these people: please pay attention to what Russia is doing.'On being Israeli, he adds: 'Just imagine our situation now. We are attacked, hated, killed by Russians as Ukrainian residents. And we are, at the very least, badly treated, cancelled and in danger of losing our lives in certain places on this planet as Israelis.'Of the Russians who murdered his son, he said: 'They cannot be forgiven, the people in charge of the drone strikes that killed my son.'They are all killers, but they have a boss who made that killing possible. The name of that boss is Vladimir Putin.'On what he would say to the Russian dictator, he added: 'Right now, in my state, I would look for a tool that would kill him immediately. I would not talk to him.'