Radio Liberty journalist dies in Kyiv following Russian missile strikes

Vira Girich, a Ukrainian Radio Liberty journalist and producer, died in Kyiv after Russian missiles struck her residential building, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s (RFE/RL) Ukrainian service reported on Friday.

“We are deeply saddened by the death of our Ukrainian service employee Vira Hyrych in Kyiv at night. We have lost a dear colleague who will be remembered for her professionalism and dedication to our mission,” RFE/RL President Jamie Fly said in a statement. 

“We are shocked and outraged by the meaningless nature of her death at home, in the country and city she loved. The memory of her will inspire our work in Ukraine and abroad for many years to come.”

RFE/RL’s Ukrainian service noted that Girich’s body was found on Friday morning following Thursday’s shelling of the city, reporting that a Russian missile had struck her house.

Girich had worked with Ukrainian TV channels before joining Radio Svoboda’s Kyiv bureau in Feburary 2018.

Officials and journalists mourned her death, the latest casualty among journalists covering the war in Ukraine, over social media. 

“Russia killed Vira Hyrych, a @RFERL journalist. She was going to bed when a Russian ballistic missile hit her apartment in central Kyiv. Russia’s barbarism is incomprehensible. We call on media organizations to condemn the murder of Vira and all other innocent Ukrainians,” Oleg Nikolenko, a spokesman for Ukraine’s foreign ministry, tweeted.

“Yesterday’s Russian missile strike on Kyiv killed my colleague from the media. Vira Hyrych, a producer at @RFERL, died as a result of Russian strike on a residential block. Her body was found under the rubble in the morning. Other friend’s flat was damaged. It hits close to home,” Olga Tokariuk, an independent journalist based in Ukraine, said. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an address on Thursday that Russia had used five missiles against Kyiv that day, the same day that the United Nations chief was visiting. 

“And this says a lot about Russia’s true attitude to global institutions. About the efforts of the Russian leadership to humiliate the U.N. and everything that the Organization represents. Therefore, it requires a strong response,” Zelensky said, slamming the latest attack by Russia.