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'Irreparable tragedy' — Mother, 2 children killed in Russian strike on Kyiv Oblast

• 2 min read
'Irreparable tragedy' — Mother, 2 children killed in Russian strike on Kyiv Oblast
The aftermath of a Russian drone strike in Hlevakha in the Fastiv district of Kyiv Oblast, Sept. 19. (Ukrainian National Police/Telegram)

A woman and two young children were killed in a Russian strike in the village of Hlevakha, in the Fastiv district of Kyiv Oblast, Governor Tymur Tkachenko reported on Sept. 19.

The children were a girl and a boy, according to Tkachenko.

"There are no words to express the pain of this loss," Tkachenko wrote after the attack. "My sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims. This is an irreparable tragedy."

The victims were a 39-year-old woman and her 2-year-old son, along with a 3-year-old girl, Ukraine's National Police reported. It was not immediately clear if the young girl was also the woman's daughter.

Preliminary information indicates a Russian drone struck a house in Hlevakha, killing the three victims and injuring a third woman, police said. Homes and a vehicle were damaged in the attack. A fire broke out in one of the houses but was later extinguished, while emergency services continued working at the scene.

Air raid alerts in the region continued almost uninterrupted throughout the day as Russian forces repeatedly attacked the region with drones, local authorities said.

Elsewhere in the region, a mother and child were injured in the Vyshhorod district and hospitalized, Tkachenko said. An educational facility and a bus were also damaged.

Russian attacks damaged at least nine civilian sites across four districts of Kyiv Oblast over the course of the day, including five warehouses, a production facility, a garage, vehicles, and an apartment building.

Earlier on Sept. 19, authorities reported that another woman had been wounded in Fastiv district and taken to hospital following a separate Russian attack.

Russia has intensified drone attacks across Ukraine in recent weeks, repeatedly targeting residential areas and civilian infrastructure. A Sept. 8 Russian missile and drone attack on Kyiv killed five people and injured dozens.

T
Tamara Nowakowsky

News Editor, North America

Tamara Nowakowsky is an editor on the North America desk at the Kyiv Independent. She is a Canadian journalist with more than two decades of experience across radio, television, print, digital media, and communications. Her previous work includes reporting for CBC Radio and Television, serving as editor-in-chief of Long Beach Magazine in Long Beach, California, and hosting travel and adventure segments on CKUA Radio. She has also worked in communications and media relations, including with the David Suzuki Foundation.

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