A mother and her 2-month-old son were killed when a Russian strike hit their apartment building in Kyiv’s Svyatoshynskyi district during a weekend aerial assault that Kyiv described as the largest of the war.
Ukrainian and local media identified the victims as 32-year-old Viktoriya Grebenyuk and her infant son, Roman. Neighbors and local reports said a drone struck the family’s newly purchased flat; Grebenyuk’s husband was seriously injured in the blast, according to accounts in Ukrainian outlets.
Grebenyuk worked as a volunteer and later as the head of a program department for 100% Life, a Kyiv-based nonprofit that provides services to people living with HIV and other infectious diseases. The organization announced her death in a Facebook post, calling her “a wonderful person, a beautiful woman and a gentle mother” and saying her life was “cut short in an instant by a brutal war.”
The weekend barrage saw Russian forces launch what Ukrainian officials said were 810 drones and decoys and 13 missiles. Ukrainian air defenses intercepted more than 700 of the drones, Kyiv’s military reported, but several strikes penetrated defenses and hit targets across more than 30 locations in the country. Ukrainian authorities said the attack killed at least four people and wounded more than 40.
Glavkom, a Ukrainian news outlet, and other local media reported that the strike on the Svyatoshynskyi apartment building created a powerful blast that threw occupants across the unit. Friends and colleagues who spoke to local outlets said Grebenyuk and her husband had recently bought the apartment and moved in with their newborn son.
100% Life said Grebenyuk began volunteering with the group as a student at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in 2014, teaching English at the organization’s Center for HIV-Positive Children and later working on program organization. In its statement the nonprofit described her as a mentor and leader whose “light, love, and example remain with us forever.” A vigil was held in the Svyatoshynskyi district for the slain mother and child.
Public health officials have warned that conflict-related disruption has complicated care for people living with HIV in Ukraine. European health agencies estimated that about 245,000 people in Ukraine were living with HIV at the end of 2024, a figure cited by local advocacy groups as a factor increasing the vulnerability of patients to shortages and displacement caused by the war.
The scale of the weekend attack drew attention to both the capabilities of long-range drone and missile strikes and the continuing strain on Ukrainian air defenses. Ukrainian military statements emphasized the high interception rate for the incoming drones but also acknowledged that some munitions reached urban areas, causing civilian casualties and property damage.
Smoke rose over parts of Kyiv as emergency crews responded to strikes in the capital and other regions, and local authorities reported damage to residential buildings. Officials in Kyiv and other affected areas continued to document casualties and assess damage in the days after the assault.
International and Ukrainian media outlets reported the names and circumstances of several civilian victims as authorities worked to confirm identities and inform relatives. Local humanitarian groups and municipal services mobilized to assist injured residents and to provide support to families affected by the strikes.
The attack marked the latest in a series of escalations since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Both sides have reported periodic large-scale air raids and missile strikes in the months since, and Ukrainian officials have repeatedly called for increased international support for air defenses and humanitarian assistance to mitigate civilian harm.
Authorities in Kyiv continued investigations into the weekend strikes, and local officials said recovery and repair efforts would proceed alongside searches for further victims. 100% Life and local community groups urged support for the bereaved family and highlighted the broader human cost of the attacks on civilians and health services.