Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina dies after Kramatorsk missile strike

Author worked to document alleged war crimes by Russia after invasion

Victoria Amelina was in Kramatorsk with a delegation of Colombian journalists when a missile struck the restaurant they were in. Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images

An award-winning Ukrainian writer has died from her injuries after last week's Russian attack on Kramatorsk, raising the total number of victims to 13.

Victoria Amelina died in a Dnipro hospital on Saturday, PEN Ukraine said in a statement on Sunday.

Ms Amelina had been “documenting Russian war crimes” and was in Kramatorsk with a delegation of Colombian journalists when a missile struck the restaurant they were in.

Decorated writer Hector Abad Faciolince, former Colombian peace negotiator Sergio Jaramillo and journalist Catalina Gomez were injured in the attack, Colombian President Gustavo Petro has confirmed.

“Doctors and paramedics in Kramatorsk and Dnipro did everything they could to save her life, but the injuries were fatal and incompatible with life,” the statement said.

Twelve others, including teenage twin sisters, were killed in the attack, while a newborn baby was among the wounded.

PEN said around 60 others were wounded in the attack on the Ria Pizza restaurant, which is popular with soldiers, aid workers and journalists.

A winner of the Joseph Conrad-Korzeniowski literature prize, Ms Amelina, a native of Lviv in western Ukraine, had focused on documenting alleged Russian war crimes across Ukraine since last year's invasion, the organisation said.

She was taken to hospital with “multiple skull fractures”, according to a surgeon.

Her novel Dom’s Dream Kingdom was published in 2017 and shortlisted for the Unesco city of literature prize and the European Union Prize for Literature, according to PEN.

On Wednesday Ukrainian authorities arrested a man they accused of helping Russia direct the strike.

He filmed the restaurant for Moscow and informed it about its popularity, the security service said in a Telegram post.

Russia has insisted throughout the war that it does not aim at civilian targets, although its air strikes have killed many civilians.

The strike came as Russia scrambles to contain the fallout from an attempted mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group, which has fought in Ukraine.

Led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner fighters succeeded in taking control of the city of Rostov-on-Don – where the military command centre steering the Ukraine campaign is located – and sending an armed convoy to within 200km of Moscow.

Mr Prigozhin then agreed to stand down and relocate to Belarus, but experts say the incident has exposed President Vladimir Putin's vulnerability.