69-year-old British volunteer killed in Donetsk region, body trapped in combat zone

The Times reported the information.

According to police, Marffy died in June, a few days after leaving her home in Silverton, Devon, for Ukraine in a green Toyota RAV4 loaded with humanitarian aid.

A former BBC documentary producer and director, her family said she was “happy to do something meaningful.”

She arrived in Ukraine on June 4, initially accompanied by a former soldier from Wales. He fell ill and returned home, while the volunteer decided to continue the journey alone.

According to the charity Aid Ukraine, she was advised to hand over the vehicle in Lviv, but she insisted on traveling to Kramatorsk.

The organization’s founder, Katarzyna Bylok, noted that “she could not be persuaded.” Murphy last contacted her family on June 8 and the organization on June 10.

On June 11, she entered a section of the road near Bakhmut, locally known as the “kill zone,” where her car was hunted by a drone. The next day, police received a video which, according to Aid Ukraine, “1001%” confirms her death. Her death is being investigated as a war crime.

British volunteer’s body cannot be evacuated due to active fighting

According to Sky News, the British volunteer’s family remains in “red tape limbo.”

A report from the Kramatorsk District Police stated that her body “remains in an area of active hostilities, making it impossible to conduct evacuation measures to transfer the body to the forensic medical examination department.”

The deceased’s family has requested a death certificate based on the Kramatorsk District Police report through local authorities or the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). This would allow them to properly mourn her and begin the probate process.

However, Bylok noted that without the remains, obtaining a death certificate could take months or even years.

“In a kill zone, where her remains are, it is impossible to recover them because whoever you send will also die,” she emphasized. “The procedures stating that you need to have remains or DNA for a death certificate need to be updated.”

She added that Ukraine has an expedited procedure for certifying death when remains cannot be recovered, though it still takes six to twelve months.

“It leaves her family in a horrible red tape limbo,” she concluded.

• On the night of August 23, 2025, Major Serhii Bondar, a MiG-29 fighter pilot, was killed during landing approach after completing a combat mission.