An “adored” mum was killed with her two children and a family dog as they tried to flee Ukraine shelling, with her distraught husband saying “forgive me” for not being able to protect them.
Tatyana Perebeynos, 43, and her children were among Ukrainians trying to leave Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv, when the town came under fire from Russian mortar fire.
Images of her body lying in the road alongside her children Alise, 9, and Nikita, 18, were viewed around the world and showed the savagery of the invasion.
Tributes have poured in for her including from the company where she worked, SE Ranking, while her devastated husband wrote a Facebook message saying: “Forgive me, I didn’t cover you.”
The family had moved from her hometown of Donetsk to escape the violence in the region in 2014 between Ukraine forces and Russian separatists.
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Moving to the Ukraine capital they chose to make home in Irpin on the outskirts of Kyiv and Tatyana took up a job at SE Ranking where she went on to become the accounting department manager and was “adored” by other workers.
“You could always come to her with the most stupid questions about taxes, international payments, or anything else,” one colleague said, reported the Telegraph. “She always patiently answered, laying all the options out on the table.”
Another said: “She had a great sense of humour. Her stories about the children or disputes with her husband during the house renovation made everyone laugh.”
Following the Russian invasion, she and her children made the decision to evacuate last Sunday having been delayed as Tatyana needed to look after her mother.
They crossed a bridge with a male friend who was helping them leave when they reached an exposed street where they were hit by Russian shelling despite it being an evacuation route and a humanitarian corridor.
A work colleague, Elena Karpova, was another to pay tribute to her "big sister".
“She made people smile whenever she spoke,” she said. “Bright, witty, determined. She was like a big sister to our whole team… we will never forget and never forgive.”
The company where Tatyana worked also wrote a message on Facebook where it spoke of the "pain" and "grief" caused by her death.
SE Ranking stated: "We are devastated to say that yesterday our dear colleague and friend Tatiana Perebeinis, the chief accountant of SE Ranking, was killed together with her two kids by Russian mortar artillery.
"The family was trying to evacuate from Irpin – a small city right near Kyiv that has been left without water supply, electricity, and heating.
"There are no words to describe our grief or to mend our pain. But for us, it is crucial to not let Tania and her kids Alise and Nikita remain just statistics. Her family became the victim of the unprovoked fire on civilians, which under any law is a crime against humanity.
"The Russian army are criminals, and they should be stopped. Our hearts are broken. Our prayers are for all Ukrainians, who are fighting for their right to exist."
Her husband Sergei posted pictures of his family on Facebook and wrote that the Russians “took them all.”
He said: "Tania couldn't make it. What is this all for? What's next?
"I'm on my way, I must see you one last time. Forgive me, I didn't cover you."
He also later tracked down his family’s dogs with one having had to be put down and the other was at a vets where it had had a leg amputated.
Of the dead dog he wrote: “Unfortunately, my good friend flew to them now.”
