Relatives of Annie Lewis Marffy in ‘red-tape limbo’ over recovery of her body and issuing of death certificate
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.
