Colleagues of a pregnant woman who was killed along with her husband when a Kyiv apartment block was hit in a Russian drone attack have paid tribute to her fighting spirit.
Viktoria Zamchenko, 34, was six-months’ pregnant when she was killed along with her partner Bohdan and their cat on Monday morning during a rush hour drone attack.
A total of four people were killed when the apartment block was hit in the centre of Kyiv during a second wave of airstrikes in a week.
Ukrainian soldiers fired into the air trying to shoot down the drones after blasts rocked central Kyiv.
An anti-aircraft rocket could be seen streaking into the morning sky, followed by an explosion and orange flames, as residents raced for shelter.
Viktoria was a sommelier at the GoodWine store in Kyiv reported Euromaidan Press and her body was found in the rubble after the attack on the apartment block.
A message from colleagues where she worked said: “She sincerely loved wine and her work. Today her body was found in an embrace with her beloved husband Bohdan and a cat in their house where the Russian drone arrived. They were expecting a child.
"We loved Vika greatly. We are sure you loved her too. It is difficult to find the right words. But we will say Vika's phrase, which she constantly repeated: 'We should feel less sorry for ourselves'. We will remember her being this strong. Forever."
On the deaths in the apartment block, President Volodymyr Zelensky said: "In Kyiv they killed a young family by hitting an apartment with an Iranian drone. A man and a woman six months pregnant… Vladimir Putin can score another 'conquest', he killed another pregnant woman."
Ukraine's Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyi said there had been deaths in other cities but did not give a full toll.
Black smoke poured out of the windows of the Kyiv apartment building and emergency service workers toiled to douse flames.
"I have never been so afraid...It is murder, it is simply murder, there are no other words for it," said Vitalii Dushevskiy, 29, a food delivery courier who rents an apartment in the blasted building.
His flatmate, who gave his name only as Nazar, said they had tried to leave their flat only to find the staircase "all gone".
Nearby, Elena Mazur, 52, was searching for her mother, who had managed to call her to say she was buried under rubble.
"She is not picking up the phone," Mazur said, hoping she had been rescued and taken to hospital.
Ukraine said the attacks were carried out by Iran-made "suicide drones", which fly to their target and detonate.
Russia's defence ministry said it had carried out a "massive" attack on military targets and energy infrastructure across Ukraine using high-precision weapons.
