Iryna Zarutska’s boyfriend has shared a heartbreaking video showing the young Ukrainian embracing life in America before her dream was cruelly cut short.
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The 23-year-old refugee had just moved in with her partner Stas Nikulytsia in Charlotte, North Carolina, when she was st::abbed to d3ath in an unprovoked attack on a light rail train last month.
In a poignant compilation posted to Instagram, Nikulytsia showed his girlfriend reveling in her new life in America – sipping cocktails, eating barbecue and dancing with friends.
The video also captured tender moments, including the couple embracing in an elevator, kissing the camera and enjoying their early twenties.
Zarutska fled a bomb shelter in Ukraine in 2022 with her mother, sister and brother to escape the war. She quickly learned English and had been ‘hoping for a new beginning’ when she came to Charlotte, her family said.
She worked at Zepeddi3’s pizzeria in the south of the city to make ends meet while learning to drive and dreaming of becoming a veterinary assistant.
The art school graduate’s family declined to have her body returned to Ukraine, saying she would have wanted to be buried in the US because ‘she loved America.’
Clearly enamored by her new city, she even posted a photograph of the Charlotte skyline on Facebook just nine days before she di3d.
Stas Nikulytsia, the boyfriend of Iryna Zarutska, the refugee who was m::urdered on a North Carolina train, has shared a heartbreaking video of her living the American dream before her life was cruelly cut short. (Pictured: Nikulytsia and Zarutska. They had just moved in together)
Horrific footage (shown in a screenshot above) captured the moment Ukrainian refugee Zarutska, 23, was st::abbed to d3ath from behind as she sat on a train in North Carolina
Stas Nikulytsia, whose Instagram handle is @nstanilsav, uploaded the emotional reel to the platform on Sept. 15, where it has since received over 7900 likes and hundreds of comments from all over the world.
Commenters expressed their sympathies, as well as gratitude at being shown a glimpse of her happy life in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her partner and friends.
What does the video show?
“I think many are grateful to see her as she was, rather than only in those final moments,” user Vinter.skugga said, in a comment that received over 1100 likes.
“It feels a little better to see how much she was loved. I can’t imagine how it must feel for all of those who were close to her. Rest in peace Angel,” wrote another user.
What happened to Iryna Zarutska?
“Ira had recently arrived in the United States, seeking safety from the war and hoping for a new beginning. Tragically, her life was cut short far too soon,” it reads.
