The family of a British aid worker reportedly killed in a Russian drone strike while volunteering in Ukraine has been left in limbo, months after her death.
Annie Lewis Marffy, 69, travelled from her home in Silverton, near Exeter, Devon, in late May to deliver a green Toyota Rav4 packed with supplies.
She arrived in Ukraine on June 4 but did not meet co-ordinators from Aid Ukraine UK, the non-profit NGO which had organised the mission, as planned.
After a week of searching for her, the organisation was contacted by the Kramatorsk district police department and told she had been killed.
The police report says that she sustained ‘injuries incompatible with life’ after a Russian drone strike between June 11 and 12, having parked the Rav4 on a street in the contested Donbas region.
Her body remains in an area of ‘active hostilities’, making it difficult to move her.
Her family are pleading for a death certificate, through local authorities or the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), saying it will allow them to grieve properly and begin the probate process.
Marffy’s son, Charlie Lewis Marffy, told the BBC that the family were not looking to blame anyone for what happened.
‘She was brave, capable and determined, but we never wanted her to go,’ he said. ‘She was excited, happy to be doing something meaningful.’
He said the family had asked the FCDO and Ukrainian authorities for a death certificate to be issued, based on the police report, and had been left ‘dismayed’.
‘She was irreplaceable. I feel very sad that she’s not here any more but I’m very proud of who she was.’
Katarzyna Bylok, founder of Aid Ukraine, told the PA news agency that this process could take months or years.
‘In a kill zone, where her remains are, it is impossible to recover them because whoever you send will also die,’ she said.
Ms Bylok said there was an expedited process within Ukraine to certify deaths where remains cannot be recovered, though this still takes six to 12 months.
‘They will never get her body. But what they need is the ability to close her affairs. Her sons have their hands tied, they don’t have power of attorney,’ she added. ‘There is enough evidence to prove that Annie is dead.
‘The procedures stating that you need to have remains or DNA for a death certificate need to be updated.’
A spokesperson for the FCDO said: ‘We are supporting the family of a British woman who is missing in Ukraine and are in contact with the local authorities.’
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