The family of a British aid worker reportedly killed in a Russian drone strike on Ukraine has been left in “red tape limbo”, an NGO has said.
Annie Lewis Marffy, 69, has been missing in Ukraine since June after travelling from her home in Silverton, near Exeter, in late May to deliver a green Toyota Rav4 packed with supplies to Aid Ukraine UK.
She arrived in Ukraine on 4 June, but did not meet the coordinators of the non-profit NGO, which had organised the mission, in Lviv as planned. She insisted on continuing to drive to Kramatorsk, near the frontline in the Donbas region, where the vehicle was due to be delivered.
Her son said she was in regular contact with her family until 8 June, when communication stopped.
Aid Ukraine searched for Ms Lewis Marffy for a week before the organisation was contacted by the Kramatorsk police department, which said she was killed in a Russian drone strike between 11 and 12 June after parking the Rav4 on a street “in an area of active hostilities”.
Ms Lewis Marffy reportedly sustained “injuries incompatible with life” in the strike, but her remains can’t be recovered due to ongoing fighting in the area, police said.
Her family asked Ukrainian authorities and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to issue a death certificate based on the police report, saying this would allow them to grieve properly and begin the probate process.
But this could take months or years without Ms Lewis Marffy’s remains, according to Katarzyna Bylok, founder of Aid Ukraine.
Even with an expedited process within Ukraine to certify deaths where remains cannot be recovered, the family has to expect a six to 12-month wait.
‘They will never get her body’
“It leaves her family in a horrible red tape limbo,” Ms Bylok 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.”
She added that there was “enough evidence” to prove that Ms Lewis Maffry was dead, urging that procedures stating that remains or DNA were necessary for a death certificate needed to be updated.
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Ms Lewis Marffy’s son, Charlie Lewis Marffy, told the BBC the family had been left “dismayed” at the delay in issuing the death certificate.
A spokesperson for the FCDO said: “We are supporting the family of a British woman who is missing in Ukraine and are in contact with the local authorities.”
