On January 11, 2023, six-year-old Elina Fedorenko died in the frontline town of Avdiivka. The girl fell ill during the night. According to preliminary data, the cause of little Elina's death was a heart attack.
“In the evening, her hands and feet began to go numb... She died during the night...,” said Vitaly Barabash, head of the Avdiivka military-civilian administration.
On the night of January 11, Russian troops fired eight times on Avdiivka with artillery and Grad rockets.
According to volunteer Vlad Makhovsky, Elina lived in a basement with her grandparents because of the Russian shelling. According to the Avdiivka Military-Civil Administration, her father, Stanislav, had died, and her mother was abroad.
Vladislav Makhovsky met Elina when he was bringing aid to the city.
“She was six years old... I first saw her in the basement, where she was with her grandparents. Her words, there in the basement, were: ‘I'm scared,’” said Vlad Makhovsky.
The volunteer offered the grandparents and their granddaughter to leave the city and evacuate to safer regions. However, they refused. Despite the constant shelling of Avdiivka, the girl and her relatives remained there. Meanwhile, most of the population left the city. As of early 2023, 2,500 residents remained in Avdiivka.
In September 2022, when Vlad returned to Avdiivka, it was Elina's birthday. The volunteer brought the girl a cake and a gift. However, Elina's grandparents, according to the volunteer, refused to let him see her.
“Pain, terrible pain, a child I saw only a few times, but who touched my soul, a little girl with big, trusting eyes...” said Vlad.
At 9:00 a.m., there is a nationwide minute of silence. The Donetsk Regional State Administration and the Memorial platform commemorate the residents of Donetsk Oblast killed by Russia.