Tragedy as Ukrainian woman loses four family members in Russian attack

A Ukrainian woman living in Leitrim has devastatingly lost four members of her family after they were killed in a Russian attack on their hometown of Shyroka Balka near Kherson Oblast.
Kateryna Konyshcheva, 18, who has been in Leitrim just a few months and works in BR Bistro in Carrick-on-Shannon, got a call from her aunt in Ukraine on Monday with the devastating news. The community is now rallying around the young woman who said she is very grateful to everyone in Carrick-on-Shannon including her employers and colleagues in BR Bistro who she describes as her new family.
Ms Konyshcheva's employers Bashkim Berisha and Ramona Cucharec, closed down their business on Monday but allowed people to come to the restaurant in the afternoon to sign a book of condolence and show their support for the young woman.
“We are a small town with a big heart,” Mr Berisha said, adding that his phone has been “boiling” with people calling him wishing to offer their heartfelt condolences and that while Ms Konyshcheva is going through a very difficult time, the people of the town are are here now. 
Ms Konyshcheva lost her mother Olesya Konishcheva, 39, her stepfather Dmitro Planida, 35, her younger brother Artem and her baby sister Sophia she had never met, who was just 23 days old.
Speaking to RTÉ, Ms Konyshcheva said she spoke to her aunt who told her “no mother, no stepfather, no sister, little brother in hospital, but no brother, he won't live.”
Ms Konyshcheva's brother Artem had been rushed to hospital but did not survive. She said, “I hurt, I'm in pain, but I'm strong” and added “now I need to live, this is my family,” indicating to her boyfriend, her employers and colleagues in the restaurant.
Ms Konyshcheva's boyfriend Oleksandr Khominets remembered her mother as a hardworking woman who looked forward every day to receiving messages from her daughter in Ireland.
Speaking to the camera, the devastated young woman said she felt “numb” and “did not understand” how her family were gone so suddenly. 
Ms Konyshcheva has a grandmother who is in her 70s, another sister aged 16 and a brother aged 20 who is in Poland and she hopes that some day they will be able to join her in Ireland.