A 23-year-old Nigerian medical student, identified as Nnani Adaobi Marian has died after sustaining critical injuries in a Russian aerial bombardment of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
According to reports, Marian had passed away in a German hospital on Sunday, just days after she was due to receive her medical degree.
She was said to be on her way to a graduation photoshoot on 29 June with her close friend, Fatima Huseynova, when Russian forces dropped guided aerial bombs on the Kholodnohirskyi district of Kharkiv. Fatima died at the scene.
She sustained life-threatening injuries, which led to her death, despite doctors’ efforts to save her life.
She died on 5 July 2026. She was 23 years old.
Adaobi and Fatima had been studying remotely from Azerbaijan since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
They had travelled to Kharkiv specifically to collect their diplomas, with the graduation ceremony scheduled for 30 June.
Kharkiv National Medical University, where Adaobi had studied since 2020, confirmed her death in a statement on Sunday.
“As a result of enemy shelling, Nnani Adaobi Marian was seriously injured.
Doctors fought for her life until the last moment, first in Kharkiv and later in Germany.
Everyone sympathised, helped and hoped for her recovery, but unfortunately, despite the doctors’ efforts, they could not save her,” the university said.
The institution described her as one of its most outstanding students.
“Nnani Adaobi Marian was a bright, sincere and kind-hearted person. She easily found common ground with people and was distinguished by her thirst for knowledge, hard work and sincere desire to help others,” it said.
While she was a student, Adaobi took part in international medical training programs at the University of Cambridge in 2024 and at Biruni University in Turkiye in 2025.
On June 29, a bombardment killed at least 14 people and injured 98 more in the Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kharkiv regions, according to Ukrainian authorities.