Palo Alto Tech Firm Mourns Executive Killed Alongside Kids In Ukraine Attack
PALO ALTO (KPIX 5) – A Silicon Valley tech firm is mourning the loss of an executive and her two children in Ukraine, after they died while trying to flee Russian shelling outside Kyiv.
Tatiana Perebeinis, was killed by a mortar round while escaping her apartment in Irpin, 15 miles from Kyiv.
The photo, taken by Lynsey Addario, and displayed on the front page of the New York Times on Monday, showed Perebeinis' remains alongside her daughter Alise, 9, and her son Nikita, 18.
Perebeinis was the CFO of SE Ranking, which lists an office in downtown Palo Alto.
Her employer releasing the following statement:
"We are devastated to say that yesterday our dear colleague and friend Tatiana Perebeinis, the chief accountant of SE Ranking, was killed together with her two kids by russian mortar artillery.
The family was trying to evacuate from Irpin – a small city right near Kyiv that has been left without water supply, electricity, and heating.
There are no words to describe our grief or to mend our pain. But for us, it is crucial to not let Tania and her kids Alise and Nikita remain just statistics. Her family became the victim of the unprovoked fire on civilians, which under any law is a crime against humanity.
The russian army are criminals, and they should be stopped.
Our hearts are broken. Our prayers are for all Ukrainians, who are fighting for their right to exist."
Ksenia Khirvonina, SE Ranking's public relations manager, told the Mercury News, Perebeinis' apartment in Irpin had been damaged in the fighting, and that she spent the night in the basement. The family emerged the next day, to join hundreds of other civilians fleeing the area when they were struck down by Russian fire.
Both of the family dogs survived. However, one of the dogs was severely injured and had its leg amputated.
Her husband Sergeii, who was not with her at the time, wrote on Facebook that the Russians "took them all."
The blast that killed Perebeinis was also captured on video The footage shows Addario, the NY Times photographer, in the foreground, as she hurries toward the chaotic scene.
"When we were told that we could run across the street by our security advisor, I ran and I saw this family splayed out. And I saw these little moon boots and puffy coat. And I just thought of my own children, of course. And I thought, you know, it's disrespectful to take a photo. But I have to take a photo. This is a war crime," Addario told CBS News. "There was no question at all this is a place that was well documented. There is Russian military on the other side. Everyone knew this place was for civilians."
SE Ranking is now joining a list of companies that has pledged to stop doing business in Russia.
