At Kharkiv Cemetery for Slava, Killed by a Russian Drone on Christmas Day
Kharkiv — Around a hundred of us gathered this morning in the sub-freezing cold at a city cemetery to remember volunteer activist Vyacheslav (Slava) Ilchenko, killed by a Russian drone on Christmas Day while evacuating people from the front line.
His grave is covered in flowers and surrounded by snow.
Vyacheslav (Slava) Ilchenko while conducting evacuations
Slava was one of the locals who regularly risked his life by driving to the front line to evacuate vulnerable civilians from communities under fire. Last Thursday, as he travelled near the front line at Kostiantynivka, a Russian drone fired into the roof of the car, killing him and injuring two other volunteers. They were on their way to rescue an injured elderly man. In keeping with Ukrainian tradition, a commemoration is held on this ninth day after his death to help his soul on its journey to heaven.
Gathering people together outdoors in Ukraine is risky, even to pray. Two years ago, tipped off by local collaborators, Russian missiles attacked a funeral gathering in the village of Hroza, between here and Kupiansk, killing 59 civilians, including children.
But it was right to meet to pay tribute to this courageously kind man. Dozens of ambulances and other humanitarian vehicles met up in the city center at 8:00am to join a convoy to the cemetery. We stopped traffic on a main street for a minute’s silence before driving to the graveyard.
Slava had been evacuating people since the first days of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. A few months ago, we went to the town of Kupiansk together to evacuate six elderly people from streets under regular missile attacks.
Slava Ilchenko’s Grave
He was a popular guy, clearly tough but with an easy smile. The evacuation work he did requires more than being able to hold your nerve while driving into places under fire to bring people back to the relative safety of Kharkiv city. Often, those being evacuated are distraught at leaving their lifelong homes, and Slava was great at calming people.
That day in Kupiansk, with the sounds of missiles exploding close by, one elderly woman who lived on the seventh floor of an apartment block refused to leave unless we brought her washing machine too. Slava and I laughed at the absurdity of ourselves in flak jackets and helmets as we hauled it (and then her refrigerator) down the stairs from her apartment into the van.
I’ve joined Slava and other local Human Rights Defenders many times on these evacuation trips over the last few years, reporting extensively and urging greater support for this dangerous, lifesaving activism.
Tigran Galustyan’s Grave
Today, we stood around his grave and prayed in the biting cold as Slava’s relatives handed out small packets of candy to the mourners, a ninth-day tradition.
A few graves along from Slava’s is that of another evacuation volunteer, Tigran Galustyan, targeted and killed by a Russian drone in October 2024. With OSINT research from Queen’s University, Belfast, we have documented his killing, yet, as with many war crimes here, prospects for holding those responsible to account remain slim.
Slava saved hundreds of lives. He was 42 years old and leaves a wife and two children.
As we left in silence, our boots crunching softly on the snow, I left the rosary I keep in my flak jacket on his grave.
Killed rescuing people in war, Slava deserves to rest in peace.
