Fred Grandy, an American artist who made whimsical wooden signs and colorful metal flowers, came to Kyiv because he was devastated that the United States seemed to be turning its back on the war in Ukraine.
He arrived in the Ukrainian capital in late May, close to his 62nd birthday, and volunteered to clean up the rubble left by Russian attacks, family members said.
“He was a person who wanted to make a difference so badly,” said his sister Sietska Reed, 75, who lives near Bend, Ore. “I talked to him about five days ago, and he told me that he felt he was right where he should be. And he was hoping he could stay for five or six months more and help.”
Instead, Mr. Grandy was one of at least 28 people killed in a large-scale Russian drone and missile attack on Kyiv that started Monday night and stretched into Tuesday, hitting neighborhoods across the Ukrainian capital. The nine-hour onslaught was one of the largest such attacks of the war.
Emergency workers were still pulling bodies from the rubble on Wednesday, and damage was reported at more than two dozen sites. Most victims died in a nine-story apartment building in western Kyiv that was practically leveled. The Russian Defense Ministry, which regularly denies killing Ukrainian civilians, said the strikes achieved their objectives and hit “all designated objects.”
Russian air assaults have intensified in recent weeks, dimming already faint hopes for a cease-fire.
Over 13,300 Ukrainian civilians have been killed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, according to the United Nations, although the actual toll is likely much higher. But it is rare for a foreign civilian to be killed in a missile or drone attack. Mr. Grandy appears to be the first American civilian killed in an aerial strike in Kyiv.
The State Department and the Ukrainian authorities confirmed that a U.S. citizen was killed in Ukraine on Tuesday. The Ukrainian authorities said the American had died after suffering shrapnel wounds.
Mr. Grandy came to Ukraine largely because of the United States’ about-face in the war, his older sister said. Under former President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the United States was Ukraine’s biggest ally. But President Trump has embraced President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, echoed Kremlin talking points and publicly berated President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine.
Ms. Reed said her brother was upset.
“He thought, you just don’t let a bully do that stuff, and you don’t just abandon people,” she added. “Then he saw how hard they fought to save their country, or are fighting still. It was just hard to understand walking away, you know? And he just believed that people need a hand up.”
She said Mr. Grandy had volunteered with a charity in Kyiv, although it was not clear which one. Several charities recruit volunteers who help remove debris after aerial attacks. Mr. Grandy told his sister he was staying at a hotel. He added that drones had flown nearby and joked about throwing clothing hangers at them.
Born in Grants Pass, Ore., Mr. Grandy grew up with five sisters and a brother. The family moved from place to place, mainly in the American West, following his father’s job as an electrician for major public-works projects. As the second youngest, Mr. Grandy was used to being teased.
“We had our own language,” said the youngest, Juanita Grandy, 59. “I keep on thinking it’s not real.”
He married once, but it didn’t work out. He had no children. He lied about his age, because he thought of himself as forever 39, Ms. Sietska said.
Mr. Grandy, who wore a clown nose in his Facebook profile picture, had worked both as a bartender and a bouncer. But in recent years he made his living building things. He used reclaimed wood to fashion bird houses, planters and signs, according to his loved ones. He made colorful flowers out of metal.
He posted a fortune cookie message on his Facebook page: “You will have good luck and overcome many hardships.”
Pictures show him grinning widely in sparkly silver and blue suit jackets, hugging Ms. Sietska tightly, posing with his signs and traveling to places like Quartzsite, Ariz., and Tehachapi, Calif., often in convertibles.
“He was he was an artist, and he did a lot of different creative projects in his life, and that’s how he managed to eke out living,” said Julie Haugen, 58, a close friend of Mr. Grandy’s for more than 35 years. “He wasn’t a man of means by any means.”
In November, Mr. Grandy sold his three-bedroom home with a giant pecan tree in Franklin, Va. For a short time, he stayed with family in Vancouver, Wash. Then he left for Europe, visiting France, Germany and Poland before going to Ukraine.
“We’re just incredibly proud of him and so, so hurt,” Ms. Reed said.
Kitty Bennett contributed research, and Oleksandra Mykolyshyn contributed reporting.
Kim Barker is a Times reporter writing in-depth stories about the war in Ukraine.
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