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| Victoria Amelina | |
Victoria Amelina, one of Ukraine's best-known young writers, died July 1 from injuries sustained in a Russian missile strike on a crowded restaurant in eastern Ukraine on June 27. She was 37. The New York Times reported that "her death brought to 13 the number of civilians killed in the attack on the Ria Lounge restaurant in the city of Kramatorsk.... Amelina was dining with a Colombian delegation when the missile ripped into the restaurant." Days before the attack, Amelina had attended the Kyiv Book Arsenal, a literary festival in Ukraine's capital.
Born in Lviv, the award-winning author was widely known in Ukraine for her novels, children's books, poems, and essays. In 2021, she won the Joseph Conrad Korzeniowski Literary Prize, given to a Ukrainian writer under 40, and started a small literature festival in the Donetsk region. She published her first novel, The November Syndrome, or Homo Compatiens in 2014. Her other books include the children's book, Somebody, or Waterheart; and the novel Dom's Dream Kingdom (Dim dlya Doma).
In a statement, PEN Ukraine wrote, in part: "Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Victoria Amelina has expanded her work far beyond literature. In 2022 she joined the human rights organization Truth Hounds. She has been documenting Russian war crimes on de-occupied territories in the Eastern, Southern and Northern parts of Ukraine, in particular in Kapytolivka near Izyum where she found a diary of Volodymyr Vakulenko, a Ukrainian writer killed by the Russians.... During this time Victoria also started working on her first nonfiction book in English. In War and Justice Diary: Looking at Women Looking at War, which should soon be published abroad."
Romana Cacchioli, executive director of PEN International, said: "We are devastated by the killing of our friend and PEN member Victoria Amelina. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and loved ones during these terrible times. Victoria's strength, selflessness, and determination in the face of adversity have been an inspiration to us all. As we grieve her loss, her words, writings, and voice will forever resonate with us. Today is a tragic day for the PEN community, who stands with everyone at PEN Ukraine. Those responsible for her killing must be brought to justice."
Polina Sadovskaya, Eurasia director at PEN America, commented: "Victoria Amelina was a celebrated Ukrainian author who turned her distinct and powerful voice to investigate and expose war crimes after the full scale military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. She brought a literary sensibility to her work and her elegant prose described, with forensic precision, the devastating impact of these human rights violations on the lives of Ukrainians. Her contribution to this effort underscored her insistence that Russia be held to account for its illegal invasion, which has brutally cut short the lives of tens of thousands of innocent people. We extend our deepest sympathies to her son, her family and friends and her colleagues at PEN Ukraine."
In a Guardian tribute, Ukrainian author Andrey Kurkov observed that Amelina "did not leave the huge literary legacy that she might have done, had she been given more time.... Yet in her short life, Amelina still managed to achieve a great deal.... Over the past year and a half of Russian aggression, Ukraine has lost tens of thousands of its citizens, including about 30 writers, poets and publishers. Amelina now joins this list and enters the history of Ukrainian literature--a tragic history filled with unfinished books."
In a June 7 post pinned to her Twitter account, Amelina wrote: "It's me in this picture. I'm a Ukrainian writer. I have portraits of great Ukrainian poets on my bag. I look like I should be taking pictures of books, art, and my little son. But I document Russia's war crimes and listen to the sound of shelling, not poems. Why? #StopRussiaNow."