Annie Lewis Marffy, a 69-year-old volunteer, was killed in Donetsk Oblast by a Russian drone strike in June 2025. Her body cannot be recovered due to ongoing fighting, and her relatives have appealed to the authorities for a death certificate.
Source: BBC and Sky News, citing a report from the Kramatorsk District Police Department
Details: Marffy worked for the UK-based humanitarian organisation Aid Ukraine. She travelled to Ukraine from Poland in a car loaded with humanitarian aid at the end of May. Initially, she was accompanied by a former soldier from Wales who had to remain outside Ukraine due to illness.
Her son said she had been in daily contact with her family and “was excited, happy to be doing something meaningful”. Marffy told her relatives that she had entered Ukraine on 4 June. Communication with her family ceased on 8 June.
Aid Ukraine representatives said the British volunteer had been offered the option to deliver the aid to Lviv, but she had insisted on continuing her way to Kramatorsk.
Police reports indicate that Marffy set out along the Bakhmut road on 11 June, known as the “kill zone” due to its proximity to the line of contact. She parked her car at the roadside when a Russian drone struck it. She suffered fatal injuries.
Her body remains in an active combat zone and cannot yet be recovered for forensic examination.
The family of the deceased volunteer said they had contacted the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, local authorities and the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to obtain Marffy’s death certificate.
They explained that without the document, they cannot properly mourn her or begin the process of handling her estate.
"She was brave, capable and determined, but we never wanted her to go. We were worried […]
I never saw her scared, she was totally fearless and maybe that’s contributed to her death in some way. She was a force and it was her decision. We’re not looking to blame anyone," shared Charlie Lewis Marffy, her son.
He added that his mother had travelled widely and “was amazing, witty, kind, intelligent, adventurous”. Marffy filmed documentaries, helped out at soup and refugee kitchens and loved animals.
“I feel very sad that she’s not here anymore but I’m very proud of who she was,” he said.
Background: Earlier, a volunteer from Australia working with a humanitarian organisation was killed near the town of Izium in Kharkiv Oblast.
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