Young Kyiv Couple Among 24 Killed in Russian Barrage
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- Maryna Homeniuk and Yurii Orlov were among 24 people killed Thursday when a cruise missile flattened their apartment building in Kyiv's Darnytsia neighborhood during the biggest Russian airstrike barrage of the war, according to Ukrainian military officials
- Homeniuk, a 24-year-old English teacher, had fled Ukraine for the Czech Republic after Russia's full-scale invasion, completed a degree in Vietnamese, and returned home in 2023, speaking roughly 10 languages including fluent Korean and Chinese
- Orlov, 30, captained the Kyiv Floorball Club and played hockey in the Ukrainian capital; the couple met on a dating app after Homeniuk returned to Ukraine
- Friends said Homeniuk worked with children and dreamed of having her own once 'times were safer'; colleague Anastasiia Petrushyna said the couple's 'whole future ahead' has been erased
- The couple had discussed relocating from Darnytsia, where power cuts from relentless Russian attacks were restored later than in other parts of Kyiv, but couldn't afford to move
- Homeniuk's funeral was held Saturday; Orlov's body had not yet been prepared for burial, leaving friends mourning them separately
Why it matters: Twenty-four people, including a young couple planning a wedding, died in a single barrage that Ukrainian officials called the largest of the war — a reminder that even Kyiv districts like Darnytsia remain within reach of Russian cruise missiles. Homeniuk's decision in 2023 to return to Ukraine from the Czech Republic, where she'd completed her degree, captures the war's grinding cost for a generation of Ukrainians trying to build a life.
