Ukraine novelist and journalist Victoria Amelina killed in Russian missile attack

Award-winning Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina was among those killed by a deadly Russian missile attack on a popular restaurant frequented by journalists and aid workers in eastern Ukraine, PEN America said.

Amelina, 37, who had turned her attention from literature to documenting Russian war crimes after the invasion, died from her injuries after the June 27 strike in the city of Kramatorsk, the literature and human rights organization said Sunday in a statement.

At least 11 others were killed and 61 were wounded in the attack around dinnertime, when the restaurant was usually busy. Ukrainian authorities arrested a man a day later, accusing him of helping Russia direct the strike.

The attack and others across Ukraine that day suggested the Kremlin is not easing its bombardment of the country, despite political and military turmoil at home after a short-lived armed uprising in Russia on June 24.

LISTEN | Missile hit in 'blink of an eye,' survivor says: 

As It Happens6:21Russian missile hit Ukrainian restaurant in the 'blink of an eye,' says survivor

The atmosphere at a restaurant in eastern Ukraine was casual and relaxed on Tuesday night — until a Russian missile struck. Wojciech Grzedzinski, a Polish photographer who was there when the bomb hit, spoke to As It Happens host Nil Köksal.

Writer was documenting war crimes

PEN Ukraine announced Amelina's death after her family was informed of it. Amelina was in Kramatorsk with a delegation of Colombian writers and journalists. She had been documenting Russian war crimes with the human rights organization Truth Hounds.

"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," said Polina Sadovskaya, Eurasia director at PEN America.

"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."

Kate Tsurkan, a Ukrainian writer-translator and friend of Amelina, told CBC Radio's As It Happens she was "proud" of Amelina and the work she accomplished in her lifetime.

"She was quite active not only as a writer, but a human rights activist, and she was working as a war crimes researcher and travelling to liberated territories of Ukraine, talking to survivors of the Russian occupation and documenting Russian war crimes so that criminals can be punished," Tsurkan said.

"I'm very proud that such a person like Victoria was in Ukraine, in [the] Ukrainian cultural sphere, and that I had the pleasure of knowing her … I wish I was as brave as she was."

LISTEN | A friend remembers Victoria Amelina, killed in Russian missile strike:

As It Happens6:33Ukrainian writer killed in restaurant attack was kind, encouraging and brave, says friend

Ukrainian novelist and journalist Victoria Amelina was among those killed by a Russian missile that struck a popular restaurant in Kramatorsk on June 27. Her friend, writer and translator Kate Tsurkan, spoke to As It Happens host Nil Köksal.

Amelina was born Jan. 1, 1986, in Lviv. In 2014, she published her first novel, The November Syndrome, or Homo Compatiens, which was shortlisted for the Ukrainian Valeriy Shevchuk Prize.

She went on to write two award-winning children's books, Somebody, or Waterheart, and another novel, Storie-e-es of Eka the Excavator. In 2017, her novel Dom's Dream Kingdom received national and international accolades — including the UNESCO City of Literature Prize and the European Union Prize for Literature.

Since the start of the invasion, Amelina had devoted herself to documenting Russian war crimes in eastern Ukraine, PEN America said. In Kapytolivka near Izyum, she discovered the diary of Volodymyr Vakulenko, a Ukrainian writer killed by the Russians.

She also began writing her first work of English non-fiction shortly before her death. In War and Justice Diary: Looking at Women Looking at War, Amelina recounts stories of Ukrainian women collecting evidence of Russian war crimes. It is expected to be published soon, according to PEN Ukraine.

In a 2022 interview with CBC Radio's As It Happens about the death of Yuriy Kerpatenko, a musician who was killed after he refused to perform at a concert in Russian-occupied Kherson, Amelina spoke about the threat Ukrainian artists are facing amid the invasion and how it mirrored similar events in the 1930s.

"We all understand that everyone who is under Russian occupation is currently under threat, especially anyone who is active in the community, like musicians, writers and all other creatives," Amelina told host Nil Köksal.

"For a long time, I feel like I'm in a bad movie and I want to wake up … this is the reason why novelists cannot write fiction anymore, because the reality is so intense that why would I make something up when this history just repeats."