A terrorist attack on a shopping mall in Kharkiv in May 2024 killed 19 people, including former rower Oksana Skrypan.
She was born on January 28, 1977, in Kharkiv. There, she took up rowing under the guidance of Mykhailo Zolotarsky and Serhii Dementiev. Later, Oksana moved to the capital, where she entered the Kyiv Sports Lyceum and began training with Oleksandr Horovyi and Oleh Korenytskyi. Over the years, she has tried her hand at different crews: single, double, and quadruple. She repeatedly became a prize-winner at local competitions and Ukrainian championships. She was a candidate for master of sports in rowing.
After finishing the lyceum, Oksana returned to her native Kharkiv, where she entered the Kharkiv State Institute of Physical Culture. Later, she tried to work as a coach, then got married and gave birth to her daughter Dasha.
In recent years, she worked at “Epicenter” hardware store in the garden sales department. She loved growing fruits and vegetables because she lived in a private house. Despite suggestions from her friends to leave Kharkiv after the start of the full-scale invasion, she did not want to leave her hometown. Even in 2024, when the situation was becoming critical, she said that she had already survived the worst, so she would stay home. She didn’t want to become a burden to her friends or acquaintances, and she didn’t want to quit her job.
On that fateful day, May 25, 2024, she was at work. Just before the attack, she and her colleague went deeper into the store, leaving their department. And just at that moment, in the middle of the weekend, when people came to the store with their families, Russian inhumans launched an air strike. In the few minutes that the employees and visitors had after the air raid alert was announced, they simply did not have time to go down to the shelters. The enemy bombs hit the central part of the building and killed 19 people. More than 50 people were injured.
According to her friends, if Oksana had stayed in her department, she would still be alive today. All of her belongings appeared to stay undamaged. Even her phone. Her friend Victoria tried to call as soon as she heard about the attack. They had talked in the morning, and Oksana was expecting guests that day.
Her friends, colleagues, daughter, and her pets were hoping that it was a mistake and she was alive. But, unfortunately, the DNA test dispelled this hope…