33-year-old Mariupol resident Iryna Pankina (Kubai) was killed on March 23, 2022, during a Russian airstrike on the building where she was sheltering in the basement. Her son Mykhailo and her mother were also killed in the attack.
Iryna was born in Germany. Later, her family moved to Mariupol. She graduated from the Pryazovskyi State Technical University with a degree in Social Work. She worked as the facilities manager at Boarding School No. 37. Together with her husband, Viacheslav, she was raising their three-year-old son, Mykhailo.
"Ira was a kind, bright-hearted person. She loved making handmade soap. She created flowers from marshmallows and chocolate candies, as well as crafts from coins. She was always coming up with something new. She adored my daughters, and they adored her," recalled Iryna's sister-in-law, Tetiana Kubai.
"Iryna embodied all the love her parents had given her. She was incredibly talented! She made beautiful handmade crafts and loved surprising her family and friends. She deeply loved her husband and her long-awaited little son. She always found a way out of any situation and was ready to help others," said her relative Halyna Herych.
Iryna lived with her three-year-old son Mykhailo, her husband, and her mother-in-law in a private house in Mariupol's Kalmiuskyi District. On March 15, 2022, after shelling destroyed their home by fire, the family moved to Iryna's parents' house at 19 Metalurhiina Street. On the eve of the tragedy, they were staying with acquaintances in a neighboring building.
"Myshutka was already asleep, but the shelling was intense, so Iryna started getting ready to go down to the basement. Her friend told her to stay because her son was sleeping, but it was as if something was pulling her. She said, 'I'm scared. Let's go to the basement.' So all our loved ones went," Tetiana Kubai recalled.
"On the night of March 22–23, they went to the basement of the building at 19 Metalurhiina Street. It had two sections: one warm and one cold. Families with children stayed in the warm section, while everyone else stayed in the cold one. At 5:40 a.m. on March 23, 2022, two aerial bombs struck the part of the building where the families with children were sheltering. Iryna, her son Mykhailo, and her mother Nadiia were killed. Her father Mykolai, her husband, and her mother-in-law survived," said family friend Nataliia Ustinova.
Iryna Pankina was buried together with her son at Starokrymske Cemetery. She is survived by her husband, father, brother, and nieces.
At 9:00 a.m., Ukraine observes the National Minute of Silence. The Donetsk Regional Military Administration and the Memorial: Victims Killed by Russia platform honor civilians from the Donetsk region who were killed by Russian aggression.