Olga Shchyruk said she had learnt about her mother being shot on March 6, a day after the incident
A shocking photograph of the body of an aspiring make-up artist in the city of Bucha captures the horrors of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Iryna Filkina, 52, was identified by her unique manicure. She was shot dead by Russian soldiers while riding a cycle on her way back home.
A local make-up artist Anastasia Subacheva was the person who managed to identify Ms Filkina. Speaking to The New York Times, Ms Subacheva said that she was able to recognise the red and white nail polish immediately after looking at the picture.
“When I saw it, I felt physically like my heart started to break,” she was quoted as saying.
Subacheva, who has worked in and around Bucha for five years, said Ms Filkina had reached out to her in February, seeking lessons.
Iryna Filkina, at the beginning of the year, met Ms Subacheva for make-up lessons. But her plans stalled abruptly when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
After sending her daughters over to Poland, Ms Filkina had decided to stay back and help people. At a Bucha shopping centre, she fed those taking shelter there and cooked for the Ukrainian military.
In early March, she tried to move out of the city in a car but failed to get a seat. So she decided to cycle to her hometown. One of her daughters, Olga Shchyruk, 26, said she begged her mother to not ride her bike home and instead take a train. It was their last conversation.
Olga Shchyruk said she had learnt about her mother being shot on March 6, a day after the incident, but had kept her hopes alive for a month. The image shattered those hopes.
Chilling footage shared by CNN shared this week appears to have captured the moment of Filkina's death. In the video taken by a drone before March 10, a person is seen pushing a black bicycle onto Yablunska Street in Bucha before being gunned down by Russian soldiers. At least four puffs of smoke emit from a Russian military vehicle after the cyclist turns a street corner.