84-year-old Vira Kubai was killed on March 21, 2022, in her own apartment in Mariupol. Her apartment building caught fire after being hit during Russian shelling.
Vira Ivanivna was originally from Sorokyne, Luhansk region. In 2020, her son and his wife brought her to live with them in Mariupol. When Russia's full-scale invasion began, the family lived at 19 Metalurhiina Street in Mariupol's Kalmiuskyi District.
During the shelling, her son Mykola and his wife Nadiia took shelter in the basement. Vira Ivanivna had difficulty walking and relied on a cane, so she remained in her sixth-floor apartment.
"Before the war, she had begun to feel unwell. When everything started, she didn't want to go down to the basement," recalled Tetiana, the wife of Vira Kubai's grandson.
On March 21, 2022, the building where Vira Ivanivna lived caught fire as a result of Russian shelling.
"After the fire, my parents went back to the apartment, but they couldn't find her body. Everything had burned down," Tetiana Kubai said.
Her family remembers Vira Ivanivna as an energetic and active woman. She worked almost her entire life as an entrepreneur, selling clothing for children and adults. She raised her sons and later took great joy in her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. For many years, she exercised every day.
"Vira Ivanivna was full of life. Even after moving from another city, she made friends in the neighborhood and talked with them every day," Tetiana Kubai added.
"Grandma meant summer vacations, her signature sponge cake, and okroshka. She always thought about her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, helping each of us equally. She had no favorites—we were all equally dear to her. Whenever I cooked something, I always brought some to Grandma, and she would say, 'Thank you for not forgetting about your grandma.' She loved when I came to visit or when she stopped by our home just to talk about whatever was on our minds," her grandson Dmytro recalled.
Vira Kubai is survived by her two sons, four grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.
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 the memory of civilians from the Donetsk region who were killed by Russian aggression.