Nine years serving Ukraine: border guard Nataliia Riabichenko killed in action in Kharkiv Oblast

Natalia Riabichenko, a 50-year-old border guard, has been killed in action. She and her family were forced to leave their native Donetsk in 2014, and she joined the defence of Ukraine several years later.

Source: Lutsk City Council

Details: Nataliia was killed in action in Kharkiv Oblast on 1 September.

Nataliia was born in Donetsk, where she spent her childhood and youth. She studied at the Donetsk Institute of the Interregional Academy of Personnel Management. She later worked at the Tochmash plant, which manufactures drive equipment.

Following the beginning of Russia's war in Ukraine's east, Nataliia and her family were forced to relocate. The family initially settled in Mariupol and later lived in Bilytske and Dobropillia in Donetsk Oblast. They eventually found a new home in Yavoriv, Lviv Oblast.

In 2017, Natalia joined a border guard unit to defend Ukraine. After nine years of service, she was killed while carrying out a combat mission.

She is survived by her daughter, husband and mother.

"There was no better person for me. She was very decent and responsible, kind, sincere, caring and loving. She always worried about her family and tried to help and support them.

She was not just my wife – she was the person closest to me, my source of strength. It is hard to comprehend that she is no longer with us," Volodymyr, Natalia's husband, said.

Nataliia will be buried in Zakarpattia Oblast, where her mother lives.

Background: Vladyslav Ilin, alias Timati, a Ukrainian serviceman and member of Plast (a Ukrainian scouting organisation), was killed while carrying out a combat mission near Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast. He had been considered missing in action for over a year.

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