Over the past week, the capital of Kyiv and the Kharkiv region have been struck by missiles and drones as the war in Ukraine continues. The Jerusalem Post reports that at least 10 people were killed and more than 50 were wounded after residential buildings were hit. The Fellowship is deeply saddened to confirm that one of the victims was 79-year-old Lyudmyla, a beneficiary of our partners at JDC and Hesed.
Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the capital’s military administration, said 56 people, including two children, were injured and three dozen locations across the city had been damaged in the attacks.
“The enemy has once again deliberately targeted residential neighborhoods and killed civilians. We have sustained extensive damage and a significant number of casualties, including children,” he wrote on Telegram.
In an earlier post, Klitschko said the injured included paramedics and drivers at an ambulance station, and that some people were still trapped inside damaged residential buildings.
Pictures posted online showed a fire burning out of control at the top of a building on the central Shevchenko Boulevard, while elsewhere in the city, windows blew out and cars were destroyed.
Multiple explosions were heard in Kyiv, a Reuters witness said, and authorities in the region surrounding the capital said on Telegram separately there were also casualties there.
Born in 1946, Lyudmyla moved to Ukraine shortly after World War II and worked in economics and insurance until her retirement. She spent most of her life in Izium. Despite living with diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease, she remained socially active and closely connected with her family. For years, she received assistance from Fellowship partner Hesed Shaare Tikva, especially during the winter.
Lyudmyla was killed on June 26 when a drone struck her apartment. Her case worker was unable to reach her while checking on other elderly clients who had remained in their homes since the start of the war. She is survived by her two sons and was laid to rest on June 29.
The Fellowship and our donors pray for Lyudmyla’s family as we join them in mourning. We also pray for the vulnerable elderly throughout Ukraine who remain in these heavily affected areas, asking that God watch over them and that the region may soon be blessed with shalom—peace.
