Five Lab Staff Killed in Russian Strike on Izium

Five women who worked at the Izium branch of the Kharkiv Oblast Centre for Disease Control and Prevention were killed in a Russian guided aerial bomb attack on October 29. The Ministry of Health reported that all five had been among the first employees to return to their posts after the city was liberated from Russian occupation.

The ministry stated that the staff cleared the damaged premises themselves and swept up shattered glass. They gradually restored laboratory operations to protect public health and safety.

Viktoriia Prokopenko was among those killed. She headed the sanitary and hygiene laboratory after 36 years in healthcare. Colleagues described her as a skilled professional and a kind person. She would have turned 59 on November 3 and leaves behind a husband, a daughter, and a grandson.

Yuliia Dovzhenko also died in the strike. She served as a laboratory technician in the bacteriology laboratory for nearly 38 years. Her colleagues remembered her as sincere and conscientious. She would have turned 57 on November 2 and is survived by her husband, son, two granddaughters, and sister.

Valentyna Prus, a laboratory technician who joined the sanitary and hygiene laboratory in 2021, was also killed. She was 55 years old and is survived by her husband and daughter. Anzhela Prokhortseva, an accountant, was on the phone with colleagues at the oblast center when the bomb hit. They heard the whistling of the incoming bomb and her attempts to escape before the call dropped. She was 54 and leaves behind two daughters.

Olena Hryshchenko, a cleaner, was the fifth victim. She was 58 years old. Russian forces attacked Izium with three guided aerial bombs on October 29, killing five people and injuring 12 others.