Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina died of injuries sustained in the Russian bombing of Kramatorsk

Ukrainian writer victoria amelinaThe 37-year-old, who was one of the victims of the Russian bombing of Kramatorsk on June 27, died as a result of the injuries sustained in the attack that cost the lives of thirteen people.

At the time of the Russian attack, Amelina was in a pizzeria in the company of the Colombian writer Héctor Abad and the former High Commissioner for Peace of the Colombian President, Sergio Jaramillo. Abad and Jaramillo survived the attack with minor injuries, as did Colombian journalist Catalina Gómez, who was having dinner with them when the missile hit. The Russian attack on Kramatorsk is one of the deadliest in recent weeks.

News of the writer’s death was spread by Ukrainian PEN, a public cultural organization that protects the freedom of expression and rights of Ukrainian journalists, writers and scientists, among other professionals. «It is with great sadness that we inform you that the heart of the writer Viktorija Amelina stopped beating on July 1 in the Mečnikov hospital in Dnipro. His life ended due to life-threatening injuries sustained in a rocket attack by Russian occupiers on a restaurant in Kramatorsk on June 27,” PEN Ukraine said in a statement.

Amelina, a member of the Ukrainian PEN and war crimes documentarian for the Truth Hounds organization, was in Kramatorsk together with a delegation of Colombian journalists and writers. While they were having dinner at the Ria Lounge restaurant in the city center, the Russian occupiers fired rockets into the building.

“Doctors and paramedics from Kramatorsk and Dnieper did everything to save his life, but unfortunately the wound was fatal. In the last days of Victoria’s life, family and friends were with her,” the Ukrainian organization she belonged to said.

Ukrainian PEN and Truth Hounds claim that, according to witnesses of the tragedy, the Russians used high-precision Iskander-type rocket for attack. “They must have known that they were shooting at a place where there would be a large concentration of civilians. It is known that 13 people died, about 60 were injured,” PEN announced on its website.

Literary work

Victoria Amelina was born on January 1, 1986 in Lviv, and as a child she lived with her father in Canada. In 2007, he studied information technology at the Polytechnic in his hometown, and until 2015 he worked in international technology companies.

In 2014, Victoria’s first novel, “El síndrome de noviembre o Homo Compatiens”, was published. Three years later, his second novel “Dom za dom” was published. This book was shortlisted for national and international awards such as “LitAccent of the Year – 2017”, the UNESCO City of Literature Award and the European Prize for Literature.

Viktorija Amelina’s texts have been translated into Polish, Czech, German, Dutch and English. In 2021, Victoria became the winner of the Joseph Konrad-Kozhenovsky literary award. In the same year, he 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, Amelina joined the human rights organization Truth Hounds in the summer of 2022 to document war crimes in unoccupied eastern, southern and northern Ukraine, particularly in Kapitolivka in the Izyum region, where she found the writer’s diary Volodymyr Vakulenko, who was killed by the Russians.

According to a biography published by PEN, Victoria at the same time began work on her first non-fiction book in English, “Diary of War and Justice: 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.