78-year-old Nataliia Nezhydenko was killed by Russian shelling on September 9, 2025, in the village of Yarova, Kramatorsk district.
She was waiting to receive her pension when the enemy struck the people standing in line with a guided aerial bomb (KAB). As a result of this attack, 25 people were killed.
Nataliia was born and lived in Yarova. She worked at the Izium Diesel Locomotive Repair Plant. She never had a family of her own.
“We lived nearby, and she raised me like a son. When the full-scale war began, I evacuated my family and went to fight, while my aunt stayed behind alone. She planted a garden by herself. I kept asking her to leave, but she said she needed to plant the garden so there would be food when we returned home,” her nephew Yurii recalled.
On September 9, 2025, at 8:54 a.m., Yurii called his aunt. She told him that a Ukrposhta vehicle was about to arrive, so she was going to collect her pension. At around 10:40 a.m., while Nataliia was standing in line, Russian forces struck the area with an aerial bomb.
“My aunt was a good, sociable person. Everyone in the village knew and respected her. When my parents passed away, she took care of me as if I were her own child. If not for the war, she could have lived many more years,” her nephew said.
Nataliia Nezhydenko is survived by her sister, nephews, and other relatives.
At 9:00 a.m. — a nationwide minute of silence.
The Donetsk Regional Military Administration and the Memorial platform “Killed by Russia” honor civilians of Donetsk region murdered by Russian forces.