🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
A 26-year-old Ukrainian woman was allegedly shot and killed on Friday after delivering food to a dog shelter.
Friends of the woman, Anastasiia Yalanskaya, told Global News that they believe she—and two men who were also killed while returning from the shelter—were targeted by Russian troops.
"I asked her to be extra cautious. That nowadays, a mistake costs extremely much," her husband Yevhen Yalanskyi told the news outlet. "But she was helping everyone around. I asked her to think of evacuation but she did not listen."
Yalanskaya's best friend, Anastasiia Hryshchenko, said she contacted the father of a man Yalanskaya had been volunteering with when she became concerned about her friend's welfare.
The man said that he found their car riddled with bullets close to his home, where Yalanskaya and her two fellow volunteers had been expected to arrive. Hryshchenko said it appears the vehicle was shot at close range by a "heavy weapon."
Global News reported that Yalanskaya had delivered food to a dog shelter in Bucha, a town that had been targeted by Russians.
"She was one of the best human beings I knew. She was committed to help, to help her friends and relatives and whoever needed help," said Yalanskyi, who was separated from Yalanskaya, but still close with her. "She loved animals. We had a dog and a cat. She was the best partner I ever had."
According to the news outlet, Yalanskaya had written on Tuesday on social media about providing aid to a Kindergarten, as well as a military hospital, in addition to the dog shelter.
"We are not scared. We are united like never before. We help each other. We stand for hours at roadblocks and thank those who protect us," she wrote in a Telegram blog. "We will win."
Though Yalanskaya had been urged to leave Ukraine for her own safety, she was adamant about remaining in her country to help others.
"She was a very good person, she was always helping everyone, she wouldn't do anything else," Hryshchenko said.
Yalanskaya's friend also said that Russians are targeting civilians.
"They're just randomly shooting people. They see civilians and they just shoot them," she said, according to Global News. "They want people to be scared and horrified. But it only makes our people braver."
Newsweek reached out to the Ukrainian military to see if they had any information about the incident, but did not receive a response before publication on Saturday morning.
About the writer
Xander Landen is a Newsweek weekend reporter. His focus is often U.S. politics, but he frequently covers other issues including ... Read more