People who survived the Second World War and died from Russian aggression

ABO Local Media Development Agency has launched Memorial: Killed by Russia since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. The memorial preserves the names and faces of civilians and military who died as a result of the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation. "We have created this memorial so that you can find out about everyone who was killed by the Russian army," the media says.

Svidomi in collaboration with the Memorial commemoration platform tells about Ukrainians who died in the war.

To survive the Nazi camps — Buchenwald, Penemünde, Dora, Bergen and Belsen — not to survive the Russian invasion.

 This is the tragic story of one of the prisoners of the German concentration camps — 96-year-old Borys Romanchenko, who died as a result of the Russian shelling of Kharkiv. The multi-storey house where he lived was hit by a bomb. The veteran burned in his bed, and his remains were only taken in a few days. 

Borys Romanchenko previously worked with the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation and was Vice-President of the International Committee Buchenwald Dora and Commandos. He advocated for people to remember Nazi crimes. 

Vanda Obiedkova was 91 years old when she died due to the blockade of Mariupol. At the age of 10, the woman lost her mother to the Holocaust, but she survived.

"My mother loved Mariupol. She never wanted to leave,” recalls Vanda's daughter Larysa. Dying in the basement, in the cold with no water, Vanda Obiedkova wanted to know only one thing — Why is this happening?

Risking her life, Vanda was buried in a park one kilometre from the Sea of Azov under the sound of shelling.

Stelian Makhsma died at the age of 95 in Mariupol. In March, during fierce fighting, the man was hiding in the basement, where he caught a cold and later was taken to hospital with complications.

The man was a participant in the Second World War and survived the famine in 1932-1933 and the repression. His father was shot when Stelian was 11 because he did not want to work for the collective farm.

In 1943, Makhsma was mobilized into the Soviet army and sent to the front line — he was one of those who liberated Melitopol.

"Stelian Pavlovych cursed Putin. Every day he prayed that God would take Putin away, instead, God took him away for some reason,” granddaughter Diana says.

Valentyna Slyvchenko lived 88 years and died in early March during the blockade of Mariupol due to lack of food, cold and severe stress from the combat activities.

During the Second World War, while Soviet troops were retreating from Kharkiv, they blew up the house where Valentyna Slyvchenko lived with her mother.

Valentina's relatives say that she was frugal — she was afraid that someone might come and take everything from her. Also, the pensioner especially appreciated the independence of Ukraine.

"My father was brought up by my grandmother in the spirit of freedom and love for Ukraine. And my sister and I were taught that way, too. She called Soviet communists criminals and hated them more than ‘Hitlerites’, her granddaughter said.

At the age of 84, a fashion designer, winner of the Vasyl Stus Award, and a Sixties Dissident Liubov Panchenko died. During the Russian occupation of Bucha, the woman stayed in her house and starved for a month. Later, she could no longer move independently and needed help - she was taken to a hospital in Kyiv, where she died.

"Our community has now suffered a great loss — Bucha and all Ukraine have become poor for another generous, unique talent," wrote Bucha Mayor Anatolii Fedoruk.

During Soviet censorship, Liubov Panchenko developed Ukrainian culture, and her work was filled with Ukrainian identity.