Ukrainians Mourn Mother Who Died Protecting Her Child From Russian Attack Drones

The Russian air strike that killed Ukrainian mother Anna Yefymenko near Kyiv on May 18 was part of a swarm of hundreds of Shahed drones launched by Russia that night.

She was killed while protecting her four-year-old son, Mark, with her body after the family apartment was hit.

Yefymenko -- a 27-year-old photographer described by a childhood friend as a "very open and straightforward person" -- managed to save her son, who is being treated in a hospital.

The attack, which struck the city of Vasylkiv, south of Kyiv, was hit in a massive air attack that involved several waves of Shahed attack drones, which sparked multiple fires in the area.

During the overnight air raid, which was announced in the Kyiv region at about 11:40 p.m. on May 17, one of the targets appeared to be Vasylkiv.

Vasylkiv was under siege for several hours, with residents being warned that drones were moving in several different directions at various times, according to local reports.

Officials indicated that Russia launched 273 Shaheds, with Yefymenko the most widely reported victim.

Her husband, Serhiy, a Ukrainian soldier, posted a “farewell to my beloved wife” in social media, inviting those who knew her to gather for a memorial on May 20.

Mourners Honor Ukrainian Mother Killed While Protecting Her Young Son

The May 18 assault was reportedly one of the heaviest drone attacks on Ukraine since February, with the Ukrainian military reporting it intercepted 216 of the drones.

The Kherson and Kharkiv regions were also hit on May 18, causing injuries, destruction, and fires in several communities, according to Ukraine's Emergency Service and local administrations.

Some 29 settlements in the Kherson region were hit, with strikes on a high-rise building, civilian homes, a cell tower, a gas pipeline, and cars.

A day earlier, a Russian air attack killed a family traveling in a minibus in Ukraine’s Sumy region.

The bus was leaving the city of Bilopillya, near the Russian border, when it was hit, causing multiple fatalities, according to local reports, and prompting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to write that Russian forces had “committed the murder of civilians.”

Seven were also wounded, suffering burns, fractures, and contusions.

Zelenskyy reiterated that he had proposed a 30-day unconditional cease-fire with Russia, a move also backed by US President Donald Trump, which has been rejected by the Kremlin.

Russia has said it is seeking international recognition of its 2014 annexation of Crimea, a move widely condemned as illegal by Ukraine and most of the international community.

Following a phone call with Trump on May 19, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that it was still necessary to address “the root causes” of the conflict with Kyiv -- a term he uses to question Ukraine’s right to exist as well as the wider post-Cold War international order.

Meanwhile, Ukraine has continued to ramp up its own strikes on sites throughout Russia.