The life of 63-year-old Zoia Shevchenko was taken by a Russian airstrike on the settlement of Yarova on September 9, 2025.
The severely wounded woman was taken to a hospital in Sloviansk, where she died the following day.
Zoia was born in the village of Oleksandrivka, Kramatorsk district, and settled in Yarova after getting married. She worked at the Izium Optical and Mechanical Plant. After it closed in 2012, she and her husband kept livestock at home and sold milk.
In recent years, she worked as a social worker. She lived alone in Yarova—her husband had passed away, and her adult children had families of their own.
In early September 2025, Zoia Shevchenko already had her belongings packed to leave, as Yarova was increasingly shelled by Russian forces. But she hesitated—she was feeding animals in the settlement whose owners had evacuated, and as a social worker she had people under her care.
On September 8, 2025, her daughter and son-in-law came from Sviatohirsk to help her prepare to leave the next day.
“Mom was so happy. She asked us to stay for tea, but we promised we would come back the next day at 1:00 p.m.,” her daughter Yuliia recalled.
On the morning of September 9, 2025, Yuliia heard distant explosions. Her cousin’s husband called and said that Russian forces had attacked the center of Yarova with guided aerial bombs (KABs). At that moment, people were gathered there waiting to receive their pensions. The daughter learned that her mother had been wounded. Zoia had come to collect her pension in order to deliver it to those she cared for.
“Because of the shelling, ambulances were prohibited from going to Yarova. I took blankets, a bulletproof vest, tourniquets, and my husband and I drove there. After 10–15 minutes, we got out of the car in the center of Yarova. There was thick smoke, everything was burning, people were screaming, and there were bodies and remains of those killed,” Yuliia said.
The daughter found her mother among dozens of wounded and killed; Zoia was conscious. She said her stomach hurt badly. Her leg was shattered. Yuliia applied a tourniquet, and her mother was taken to a hospital in Sloviansk.
“They took Mom into surgery. My brother and I waited together. She was in critical condition, on a ventilator, but we hoped her condition would stabilize and that she would be transferred to Dnipro,” her daughter said.
Around midnight, her brother called to say that their mother was gone.
“Mom was a very kind, bright person. Since the start of the full-scale war, she fed dogs in the settlement that had been left without owners and had attached themselves to her. Because of them, she didn’t leave in 2022. She spent part of her salary on food for them. Mom truly believed in victory and waited for it so much. She loved Ukraine very much,” Yuliia said.
Zoia Shevchenko is survived by her daughter, son, grandchildren, 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 the residents of Donetsk region killed by Russian forces.