"We wanted to leave the country, but we were just a bit too late": girl, 11, killed in guided bomb attack on Zaporizhzhia
Three people were killed and 41 others were injured in a Russian guided aerial bomb attack on Zaporizhzhia on 19 July. Among those killed was 11-year-old Mariia Levchenko. The girl was trapped under the rubble of a destroyed five-storey residential building for six hours before her body was found.
Source: Zaporizhzhia City Council's Department of Education and Science on Facebook; Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne
Details: Mariia was a Year 6 student (typically aged 11-12) at Osnova School. She also attended art and music classes at specialised schools, where she played the synthesiser.
"She was a kind, sincere and talented girl who was loved by her family, friends and teachers," the department said.
At the time of the attack, Mariia was at home with her mother, brother, grandmother and grandfather, her mother Kateryna told Suspilne.
Kateryna said the rest of the family escaped with only minor injuries. Her son was outside when the strike hit, she had stepped into the corridor, and Mariia had gone into the kitchen.
Quote from Kateryna: "We came back from our country house yesterday because we had an orthodontist appointment. There were four of us at home. My father is fine, but he was cut by broken glass. My mother was trapped under a concrete slab, but managed to get out quickly. My daughter went into the kitchen, and that side of the building collapsed on top of her. They spent five or six hours digging her out, but sadly, the collapse was too severe.
We're trying to find our belongings now. Some things survived, others didn't. We wanted to leave the country, but we were just a bit too late...."
Details: She said her daughter was a creative child who loved drawing and had been painting beautifully since the age of five. Mariia also enjoyed singing and swimming.
In addition to 11-year-old Mariia, two women aged 71 and 72 were also killed.
Background: A young married couple, a woman displaced from Kherson Oblast and two employees of Ukrenergo were killed in a Russian attack on Kyiv on the night of 5-6 July.
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