Iryna Zarutska was a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee who fled Ukraine due to the Russian invasion and resettled in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2022. She was known as a gifted artist with a degree in Art and Restoration, who loved animals and aspired to be a veterinary assistant. Tragically, she was fatally stabbed on August 22, 2025, while riding a light rail train in Charlotte. Her attacker was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Zarutska was remembered by family, friends, and colleagues as kind, creative, and a positive presence in her community, having quickly embraced her new life in the U.S. despite the hardships she had endured.
