Four days ago, Russian rockets killed 24 people in Vinnytsia. Among them are children, students, a sound engineer, a teacher, a retired woman, and a volunteer. Here are the names, surnames, and short stories of these people

On the afternoon of July 14, Russian troops fired missiles at the center of Vinnytsia city. In two days, the rescuers of the State Emergency Service finished clearing the debris. 24 people died, three of them children. The rockets hit the local “Officersʼ House”, where the children were practicing in clubs, and on the evening of July 14, there was supposed to be a “Roxolana” band charity concert. One of the members of the band, Yevhen Kovalenko, died. The memorial platform "Memorial of Civilian Victims of War" collected data on 19 victims of the shelling. The names and surnames of the others have not yet been established — the identification of the bodies is still ongoing. Among those who died, there are various people — a volunteer who helped the army, female students, employees of banks located nearby, a sound engineer who was preparing an evening concert. We publish short stories about these people — to make the fates behind the numbers more visible.

Liza Dmytriieva, 4 years old

The last video with four-year-old Liza Dmytriieva during a walk was filmed by her mother Iryna. Liza was rolling the cart, and her mother asked her: "Bunny, where are we going now?". In her Instagram, Iryna Dmytriieva often talked about motherhood and the experience of raising Liza, a girl with Down syndrome. She told how they overcome a three-year crisis, took pictures with her daughter in lavender and hydrangea fields. At the time of the shelling, they were returning from a developmental speech therapy class. Liza died immediately, her mother is now in intensive care.

Iryna Dmytriieva is from Vinnytsia, but lived in Kyiv before the full-scale war. She and Lizaʼs father Artem are divorced, but he maintained contact with the daughter.

"Iryna paid a lot of attention to her daughter, worked with specialists on her development and education," said her friend Alla. “Liza was a special and most beloved daughter. The only and desirable one".

In 2021, Liza starred in the Christmas video of the First Lady Olena Zelenska.

Yevhen Kovalenko, sound engineer, 25 years old

Yevhen worked as a sound engineer in the team of the singer Roxolana, whose concert was to be held in the Officersʼ House on the evening of July 14: "During the rocket attacks, part of our team was on the main square. They are all injured. Yevhen was sensitive, funny and incredibly sincere," the singer said. He died in the hospital.

Evhen studied at the classical gymnasium, which now is the Harmony Academic Lyceum. Then he entered the Kyiv National University of Theater, Cinema and Television named after I. K. Karpenko-Karyi. He devoted all his time to music. He is survived by his beloved girlfriend and parents. Singer Vadym Oliynyk, who also collaborated with Yevhen Kovalenko, added that he was an extremely professional person: "He was a very cool guy. He stayed in the Officersʼ House in Vinnytsia because he was a true pro and gave all he could to his work".

Kateryna Hula, clinic office manager, 24 years old

Kateryna Hula, a 24-year-old administrator of the Neuromed clinic, was at work that day, as usual.

"The building collapsed, there was a fire due to the rocket hit, Kateryna died on the spot," the clinic stated. "Katya is a person who went to work every day to help patients."

For all day on July 14, Katerynaʼs relatives and friends were looking for her. "We donʼt believe it," wrote a friend of the family, Olena, when Katerynaʼs body was identified. Kateryna Hula studied at the Vinnytsia Trade and Economic Institute. She is survived by her mother and brother.

Alina Kysil, PrivatBank employee, 25 years old

Alina worked at the PrivatBank branch located in the Officersʼ Building. In 2015, she entered the third year of the "Accounting and Taxation" specialty at the Vinnytsia Educational and Scientific Institute of Economics. And already in 2018, she received a masterʼs degree and got a job at PrivatBank.

"Pain, sadness, anger... We remember her as an intelligent, inquisitive, interesting, young, and extremely ambitious girl," said the administration of the department where the deceased once studied. At the beginning of July, Alina turned 25 years old.

Tetyana Kharchenko, a clinic manager

Tetyana worked as a manager at the Neuromed clinic, she was at work at the time of the explosion. The woman raised a son, loved to travel. Her son should start first grade in September.

Victor Polishchuk, an entrepreneur

Victor was born and lived in Vinnytsia. He was an entrepreneur, worked in the printing industry. At the same time, he organized musical events in the city, brought interesting bands, organized performances in front of the military, and collected money to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces. He loved traveling, Ukrainian music festivals, mountains, music, and snowboarding.

That day, July 14, Viсtor planned to spend with the Vopli Vidoplyasova rock band, who had a concert in Vinnytsia. They were supposed to meet in the city center. The band was 10 minutes late, and Viсtor was at the epicenter of the explosion. Victor is survived by his wife and 10-year-old daughter.

Kyrylo Pyakhin, 8 years old

Kyrylo was in the car at the time of the explosion. Together with his uncle, he waited for his grandmother, who entered the PrivatBank branch. After the explosion, the boy became in a fire trap. Kyryloʼs uncle was thrown back by the blast wave. The boyʼs grandmother was unharmed.

For more than a day search for Kyrylo Pyakhin continued. The boyʼs mother, Marianna Pyakhina, submitted a DNA sample. After that, on July 15, Kyryloʼs relatives were informed that his body had been identified. Together with his mother, Kyrylo came to Vinnytsia from Kherson at the end of April.

Victoriia Zhariy (Rekuta) and her son Maksym, 7 years old

Victoria lived in the village of Mala Mochulka. She raised her son and worked as a doctor in a dental clinic. On that day, the woman and her son came for an examination at the Neuromed clinic and were there at the time of the shelling. The son died together with his mother.

Lesya Vashchuk, 41, and Svitlana Cheshkivska, shop assistants

Lesya Vashchuk worked as a saleswoman in the Chotyry Sezony shopping center, which is not far from the epicenter of the explosion. Her friend and colleague Svitlana Cheshkivska died with her. "As much as I loved buying underwear from them, I still remember all our jokes. It was not shopping, but the mood for the whole day," said Anna Tkachuk, a client of the victims.

Lesya Vashchuk is survived by her husband and two children.

Kateryna Suverina, pensioner, 58 years old

At the time of the shelling, the 58-year-old woman was near the Officersʼ House. She got off the trolleybus and headed to work. Relatives searched for her for more than a day. Kateryna Suverina is survived by two daughters and grandchildren.

Volodymyr Dotsenko, volunteer

Volodymyr Dotsenko is a member of the Road Control Vinnytsia NGO. An activist who was called Boroda by his friends. For more than a day, relatives and friends searched for Dotsenko, but on July 15, in the afternoon, it became known that he had died. Volodymyr was actively involved in public activities and volunteered. He left three children, parents and a bride, whom Boroda dreamed of marrying after the war. On his page in the social network, the slogan is written: "Slaves are not allowed to heaven".

Olexandra Borivska, a student

Olexandra was near the Officersʼ House at the time of the explosion. The father searched for his daughter for more than a day. The girl studied in the second year of the Donetsk National University named after Vasyl Stus at the Faculty of History and International Relations.

Oksana Tykhovska, a primary school teacher

At the time of the explosion, the woman was in the area of the Officersʼ House. "We met Oksana Mykolayivna on the square, greeted each other, parted ways, and five minutes later an explosion rang out. She was walking towards the school at that moment," said her friend Andriy. Oksana Tykhovska worked as a primary school teacher at Vinnytsia Lyceum No. 8. "She loved her native school so much, and died while walking to it," said Olga, the sister of the deceased. Oksanaʼs body was later identified.

Nina Nelegach, a preschool teacher

85% of the womanʼs skin burnt, on July 14 she was taken to the hospital. On the same day, she died of her injuries in the hospital. Nina Nelegach lived in the Luka-Meleshkiv community of Vinnytsia oblast. The woman worked as a preschool teacher, said the mother of one of her pupils. Nina Nelegach is survived by her husband and daughter.

There are three more victims — Halyna Oleksiv, Kostyantyn Puzyrenko, and Oleksandr Kalpai, the Memorial team has not yet managed to collect information about them.

Translated from Ukrainian by Anton Semyzhenko.

Memorial and Babel teams work so that people are not numbers in the loss statistics — the whole world should see their faces and know the stories of those killed by Russia. You can support us: donate in hryvnia 🔸 in cryptocurrency 🔸 Patreon 🔸 PayPal: paypal@babel.ua.