A devoted mother-of-two who was mercilessly killed alongside her young children by Russian shelling during a ‘ceasefire’ was a high-ranking accountant who had previously fled violence in Donetsk, it was revealed today.
Tatyana Perebeynos was killed alongside her daughter Alise, nine, and son Nikita, 18, after Russian artillery rained down on the trio alongside as they desperately fled the besieged town of Irpin, Ukraine.
The photographs of the young family lifelessly sprawled out across the roadside, with their two terriers whimpering nearby, sent shockwaves across the world as it became clear that Vladimir Putin‘s ‘humanitarian corridors’ were simply a mirage.
After fleeing from separatist forces in Donetsk, the family moved to the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital four years ago, where they planned to renovate their ‘forever home’ and watch their children grow into young adults.
Ms Perebeynos was head of accounting at SE Ranking, an IT start-up and had joked with colleagues about her future during a work trip to the mountains of Georgia just three days before war engulfed Ukraine.
She was a beloved colleague who had a ‘great sense of humour’ and was renowned within the company for having an approachable personality and gentle manner.
Ms Perebeynos’ peers paid powerful tribute to her in the wake of her death, with one summarising her as ‘bright, witty, determined. She was like a big sister to our whole team’.
Heartbreaking footage, taken on Sunday in Irpin, located on the outskirts of the besieged capital city Kyiv, confirmed that Russian forces attacked heavily populated civilian areas where men, women and children tried fleeing the country as Putin continued denying bombing Ukrainian cities.
One image depicted Ms Perebeynos and her two children lying dead on the pavement after they were killed in Irpin as they tried to flee the city.
A little over a fortnight ago, Ms Perebeynos was drinking wine and chatting with colleagues late into the evening during a three-day work trip to Georgia.
She laughed as members of the young start-up shared their ambitious and far-reaching plans for the future.
‘You could always come to her with the most stupid questions about taxes, international payments, or anything else,’ one colleague said.
‘She always patiently answered, laying all the options out on the table.’
But Ms Perebeynos would never get to realise her own dreams. Living in fear of Russian invaders, she, Alise and Nikita hadn’t been able to flee earlier because they were taking care of her sick mother.
