69-Year-Old British Volunteer Killed by Targeted Russian Drone Strike in Ukraine

A 69-year-old British volunteer, Annie Lewis Murphy, was killed in Donetsk region in June after a Russian drone strike hit her vehicle while she was delivering humanitarian aid.

More than three months later, her body remains in an active combat zone, preventing evacuation, according to police reports cited by BBC.

Murphy entered Ukraine on June 4 from Poland. She initially travelled with a former Welsh soldier who fell ill and returned to the UK, leaving her to continue alone.

The volunteer was tasked with transferring a vehicle to Aid Ukraine UK teams in Lviv, but instead decided to drive on to Kramatorsk, the intended destination of the aid.

The last contact Murphy had with her family was on June 8, and she last communicated with the Aid Ukraine organization on June 10. According to a report from the Kramatorsk district police, she sustained fatal injuries between June 11 and 12 when her green Toyota RAV4 was struck by a Russian drone on the Bakhmut highway, often referred to as the “road of death.”

Aid Ukraine stated that evidence reviewed by its team confirmed “1001 percent” her death and classified the incident as a war crime. The organization emphasized that Murphy had chosen to proceed with the mission independently, despite being advised otherwise.

Police have said that her remains are in an area of active hostilities, which makes evacuation impossible. As a result, local authorities have been unable to issue an official death certificate.

Murphy, a former BBC producer and documentary filmmaker, had volunteered to deliver humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Her family told BBC that she was “happy to be doing something meaningful,” though they have faced “bureaucratic uncertainty” in efforts to confirm her death.

Her son, Charlie Lewis Murphy, noted that the family is not seeking to place blame but expressed disappointment over what they described as insufficient assistance from the UK Foreign Office. A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said it is supporting the family and remains in contact with local authorities in Ukraine.

Earlier, Ukrainian Special Operations Forces carried out a mission codenamed Messenger to recover the body of 20-year-old Lithuanian volunteer Tomas Valentelis, who was killed near Kupiansk in March.

His remains stayed in contested territory for weeks after an initial evacuation attempt left four soldiers wounded. Following intensive preparation, Ukrainian forces extracted his body under fire and later held a farewell ceremony in Kyiv before repatriating him to Lithuania.