Russian missile attack on Lviv claims lives of family linked to Ukrainian literary classic Ivan Franko

During a September 4th Russian missile strike on Lviv, seven people were killed, including Yevheniya Bazylevych and her daughters: Yaryna (21), Daryna (18), and Emilia (7). Lviv’s mayor, Andriy Sadovyi, reported the loss on his Facebook page. Their father, Yaroslav Bazylevych, is in critical condition. 

Natalia Tykholoz, director of the Ivan Franko Institute at Lviv University, revealed that Yaroslav Bazylevych is related to Ivan Franko‘s family. Bazylevych is the grandson of Zoryan Bazylevych, a relative of Ivan Franko’s daughter-in-law, Olha Franko. 

Tykholoz wrote, “Today, the family of the great Franko suffered a direct blow from that dreadful ‘dark kingdom’ Russia brings.”

Yaryna worked as a program manager at the “Lviv—European Youth Capital 2025” office. Daryna was a second-year Cultural Studies student at the Humanities Faculty of The Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU). All the Bazylevych women were members of the Ukrainian scout organization “Plast.” 

The organization was established in 1911-1912 by Petro Franko, the youngest son of the renowned Ukrainian writer Ivan Franko, along with teacher and philosopher Ivan Chmola and teacher Oleksandr Tysovskyi.

UCU shared an excerpt from her scholarship motivation letter, in which she expressed her desire to pursue cultural studies with the goal of promoting and sharing Ukrainian culture globally. She credited her family with instilling in her a passion for culture, as they shared stories of their ancestors’ resilience in the face of adversity, including the hardships of world wars, the Holodomor, and Soviet oppression.

Copy editing: Terra Friedman King

Photos: Eugenia Bazylevych Facebook page