Olena Polynina was killed on October 30, 2025, in Sloviansk: Russia struck Olimpiiska Street twice with multiple rocket launchers. That morning, she had taken animal feed and gone to feed stray animals.
She was 41. Born in Vorkuta, she had lived in Ukraine for more than 20 years and considered it her Homeland. She settled in Sloviansk, worked as a hairdresser and later at an optical shop. When her younger daughter started school, she focused on her family.
After the full-scale invasion, the family left for Lutsk, then Kyiv, and Chornomorsk. Olena lived between two cities: she cared for abandoned animals in Sloviansk, organized pet food and humanitarian aid, and cooperated with volunteers. “Mom was wild and tender, loved teddy bears, and in recent years suddenly became interested in tattoos,” says her daughter Valentina.
Olena is survived by her two daughters, her father, her former husband, and the dogs that will now live with her family.
At 9:00 a.m. — the nationwide moment of silence.