Yehia Hassan Yehia Hamed is the first Egyptian to be recognized as a victim of the war in Ukraine, Al Ahram reports. He died as a result of shelling by Russian troops in Mariupol.
Hamed lived with his family in a bomb shelter. However, on March 15, a bomb fell on him while buying food. According to diplomatic sources, his death was confirmed a week later.
The head of the Egyptian community in Ukraine, Ali Farouk, told Al Ahram that he learned of Hamed’s death after his relatives lost contact with him and turned to the Egyptian embassy and the community for help. All communication with Mariupol was cut off after the Russian attacks began, Farouk explained. After a long search, members of the Egyptian community managed to find the wife of the deceased, who informed them of what had happened.
According to Ali Farouk, Hamed owned a shop in the Egyptian seaside resort of Sharm el-Sheikh and did not live in Ukraine permanently. In early February, he went to Mariupol with his wife and child and was trapped there by the war.
According to the UN, more than 1,035 civilians were killed and at least 1,650 wounded after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. According to the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch, more than 200,000 civilians are under siege in Mariupol.
Prior to the conflict, about 6,000 Egyptians lived in Ukraine, including about 3,000 students. Many of them managed to leave the country.