Natalia Babicheva

For 27 years, she dedicated her life to the railway. The woman worked as a passenger train conductor at the Mariupol railway depot. With the onset of the war, she, along with other railway workers, rescued people on evacuation trains. On the night of March 12-13, 2022, her train was supposed to evacuate people from Lyman in the Donetsk region. There, over a hundred children from Donetsk and Luhansk regions were waiting for it.

Near the Brusyn station, the train came under fire. Natalia was hit by shrapnel. Unfortunately, by the time the ambulance arrived, it was already impossible to help her.

48-year-old Natalia Babicheva died on March 13, 2022.

Her friend and colleague, Iryna Haidai, recounts: “Natalia said that evacuating people from danger was the only way she could help in this war. Therefore, she would do it. And she went.” For nine days, the train on which Natalia worked evacuated people from Kostiantynivka, Kharkiv, Kramatorsk, and Lyman. Throughout this time, the conductors hardly left the train.

Natalia is survived by her husband, Anatoliy, also a conductor, and their daughter.

The Mariupol railway depot of the regional branch of "Donetsk Railway" of JSC "Ukrzaliznytsia" deeply mourns this tragic loss. Natalia Babicheva fulfilled her mission until her last breath, saving children on the evacuation train, and became a victim of enemy shelling. We honor her courage, dedication, and great kind heart. Her heroic act as a rescue conductor will forever remain in our hearts. Eternal memory!