On 1 August, 20-year-old fourth-year psychology student Vitalina Yarovenko was killed in a double-tap strike while helping victims in Kyiv. She was a volunteer paramedic with the Hospitallers medical volunteer battalion. After completing her training, she was preparing to officially join the battalion, said Nataliia Chykhachova, head of the Hospitallers' patronage service. Kyiv bid farewell to the volunteer on 4 August.
Every day, Russia fires drones and missiles, targeting Ukrainian cities. Overnight into 1 August, Russia attacked Kyiv with ballistic missiles, killing nine people and injuring more than 30 others, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Vitalina and a group of volunteer paramedics were on their way to rescue people after a strike on Zdolbunivska Street in Kyiv's Darnytskyi district. The second strike took Vitalina's life as they were getting out of their vehicle, said Oleksandr Kostiuk, head of military training at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. The Russian troops often employ the double-tap tactic, targeting the first responders.
Vitalina was killed alongside 25-year-old paramedic Yeva Roiter, while their driver remains in critical condition.
Farewell ceremony
Several hundred people gathered in central Kyiv. Most of them were dressed in white and held white flowers at the request of Vitalina's mother. Some knew the young woman personally, while others had never met her but decided to come. The farewell ceremony began at St. Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral and continued at Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square). Vitalina was buried near the Alley of Heroes at Berkovetske Cemetery.
"I begged, I did not want a hero at home, I wanted my child at home. But it was her choice. Vitalina had always been a very brave girl. At the age of 20, I wrote that I once held her in my arms, and now she firmly holds the world. I wanted her to keep holding this world for a very long time. But, perhaps, now she will hold it from heaven," Vitalina's mother, Natalia Koretska-Yarovenko, shared during the farewell ceremony.
Vitalina Yarovenko
During the farewell ceremony, people recalled that during her school years, Vitalina led an active life. She took part in environmental initiatives, practiced athletics, and competed in sports competitions. In the eighth grade, she decided that she would become a psychologist. Vitalina fulfilled that dream, and while studying at university, she returned to her former school to hold workshops for children.
After the full-scale invasion, Vitalina tried to help the military. She visited soldiers in hospitals and launched more than 30 fundraising campaigns. She also conducted military training courses at her university and joined the Hospitallers, helping people at the sites of Russian strikes in Kyiv as part of the battalion.
"She truly was a friend of the Hospitallers and had our shoulder patch, which not everyone has. She was going to complete the training and officially join our ranks. But she did not manage to," Chykhachova said.
As an act of revenge, soldiers on the front line have been writing "For Vitalina" on their UAVs. One such photograph was shared in the comments under a post by freelance presidential adviser Serhii Flesh by the Lava Unmanned Systems Regiment of the Khartiia 2nd Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine.
Deliberately striking medics as they reach the wounded — the "double-tap" — is widely assessed as a likely war crime under the Geneva Conventions, which protect medical personnel, including volunteer paramedics.
