The family of a British aid volunteer reportedly killed in a drone strike in Ukraine said they were very disappointed by the reaction from the Foreign Office.
Annie Lewis Marffy, 69, travelled from her home in Silverton, near Exeter in Devon in late May to deliver supplies packed into a green Toyota Rav4 in a mission arranged by the non-profit organisation Aid Ukraine UK. She was to take the vehicle in convoy with a British volunteer to Kramatorsk in the contested Donbas region.
She arrived in Ukraine on 4 June and reportedly sustained “injuries incompatible with life” in a Russian drone strike on the morning of 11 June, according to a police file. The Kramatorsk district police department said her body “remains in an area of active hostilities, making it impossible to conduct evacuation measures” to transfer it to the forensic medical examination department.
Based on this information, her relatives have asked for a death certificate to be issued either through local authorities or the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). They said this would allow them to grieve properly for the “brave, capable and determined” mother of three and begin the probate process.
Katarzyna Bylok, the founder of Aid Ukraine UK, told the PA Media news agency that issuing a death certificate could take months or years, as Lewis Marffy’s remains could not be safely recovered.
She described the area where the volunteer was allegedly killed as a “kill zone”.
“It leaves her family in a horrible red-tape limbo,” she said. “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.”
The family said: “All the family, the sisters and the sons, have been very disappointed at the reaction of the FCDO and the lack of response from the police.
“After all this time, we haven’t got any report at all from the Ukrainian police. That has to come from Ukraine and would be sent to Devon and Cornwall police.”
They said police had retained Lewis Marffy’s computer for analysis, which contained information that would help the family manage her affairs.
“The family are desperate to get more information. Her sons have been told that their mother is missing, presumed dead,” they said.
Bylok said there was an expedited process in Ukraine to certify deaths in cases where remains could not be recovered, though it still took six to 12 months. “There is enough evidence to prove that Annie is dead,” she said. “The procedures stating that you need to have remains or DNA for a death certificate need to be updated.”
Lewis Marffy travelled through Europe in convoy with a former soldier from Wales, who had to return to the UK after becoming unwell in Poland. After it was suggested she should hand the vehicle to Aid Ukraine teams in Lviv, she insisted she would continue her mission to deliver the supplies to the Ukrainian military in Kramatorsk.
She contacted Aid Ukraine on the evening of 10 June, saying she was 55 minutes from her destination. After failing to hear from Lewis Marffy, Bylok posted a picture of her on Telegram and asked for information about her whereabouts. Police then contacted Bylok to say Lewis Marffy had been killed, she said.
An FCDO spokesperson said: “We are supporting the family of a British woman who is missing in Ukraine and are in contact with the local authorities.”
