Global Courant
As a result of the serious injuries suffered in the Russian bombardment of Kramatorsk, the Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina died. The victim was 37 years old and was inside a restaurant that was hit last Tuesday by enemy missiles, in an attack that killed 13 people.
Amelina was in a pizzeria in the company of the Colombian writer Héctor Abad and the former High Commissioner for Peace of the Colombian presidency Sergio Jaramillo when the Kremlin troops carried out their missile attack, one of the deadliest in recent weeks. .
Jaramillo and Abad survived and presented with minor injuries, as did the Colombian journalist Catalina Gómez, who was having dinner with them at the moment of the missile impact.
The news of the writer’s death, which occurred after four days of receiving medical attention, was released by PEN Ukraine, a public cultural organization that protects freedom of expression and the rights of Ukrainian journalists, writers and scientists, among other professionals. .
“It is with great sorrow that we inform you that writer Victoria Amelina’s heart stopped beating on July 1 at the Dnipro Mechnikov Hospital. Her life ended due to life-threatening injuries caused by a rocket attack by part of the Russian occupiers in a restaurant in Kramatorsk on June 27,” the official report said.
In addition, he clarified that he made the “news official now that all of Victoria’s relatives have found out and with their consent.”
Amelina, a member of the Ukrainian PEN and a war crimes documentarian for the Truth Hounds organization, was in Kramatorsk together with a delegation of Colombian journalists and writers. While dining at the Ria Lounge restaurant in the city center, the Russian occupiers launched a rocket attack on the building.
“Doctors and paramedics from Kramatorsk and Dnipro did everything possible to save her life, but unfortunately the injury was fatal. In the last days of Victoria’s life, her family and friends were by her side,” the Ukrainian organization revealed to the that belonged.
Ukrainian PEN and Truth Hounds have claimed that, according to witnesses to the tragedy, the Russians used a high-precision Iskander-type missile for the attack. “They knew with certainty that they were shooting in a place where there would be a large concentration of civilians. It is known that 13 people died, some 60 were injured,” the PEN has published on its website.
Who was Victoria Amelina
Victoria Amelina was born on January 1, 1986 in Lviv and lived with her father in Canada as a child. In 2007 she studied information technology at the Polytechnic University of her hometown and until 2015 she worked in international technology companies.
In 2014, Victoria’s first novel, “The November Syndrome or Homo Compatiens”, was published. In 2015 she abandoned her career in computer science to dedicate herself to writing.
In 2016 his first children’s book “Someone or a watery heart” was published and the following year 2017 the second novel, “Home for Home” was published. This work was shortlisted for national and international awards such as the “LitAccent of the Year – 2017”, the UNESCO City of Literature Award and the European Literature Award.
Victoria Amelina’s texts were translated into Polish, Czech, German, Dutch and English. She recently translated the novel “Home for Home” into Spanish.
Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina Victoria was working on her first non-fiction book in English, “War and Justice Diary: Looking at Women Looking at War,” which will soon be published outside of Ukraine. Photo EFE/Hector Abad
In 2021, Victoria became the winner of the Joseph Konrad-Kozhenovsky Literary Prize. That same year she founded the New York Literary Festival in the Bakhmut district of the Donetsk region.
Due to Russia’s war against Ukraine, according to the PEN organization, the writer Victoria Amelina joined the Truth Hounds human rights organization in the summer of 2022 to document war crimes in the unoccupied territories of eastern, southern and northern Ukraine. , in particular in Kapitolivka in the Izyum region, where he found the diary of the writer Volodymyr Vakulenko, who was killed by the Russians.
According to the biography published by PEN, at the same time Victoria began work on her first non-fiction book in English, “War and Justice Diary: Looking at Women Looking at War”, which will soon be published outside of Ukraine.
In it, the writer talks about Ukrainian women who document war crimes and their lives during the war.
Also, the writer participated in the appeal to the governments of other countries to provide weapons to Ukraine, and also for the creation of a special international court for Russian war crimes against Ukraine.
Where is Kramatorsk located?
Kramatorsk is a city close to the front line that houses the headquarters of the regional Ukrainian forces. In addition to the local population, the restaurant was often frequented by journalists, aid workers and soldiers.
It is located in Donetsk, one of four Ukrainian provinces that Russia illegally annexed last September but does not fully control. Russia has also occupied Crimea since 2014. And it is the last major urban center under kyiv control in the east of the country.
according to the National Police report, two S300 rockets hit Kramatorsk. Photo EFE.
according to the National Police report, two S300 rockets hit Kramatorsk. Photo EFE.
Ukrainian-held areas in regions partially occupied by Moscow were particularly hard hit by Russian shelling and are a key obstacle to resolving the war.
With information from AFP.
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