‎Did you know Iryna Zarutska had a boyfriend who was waiting for her? He has broken his silence after her murder. 💔

‎Did you know Iryna Zarutska had a boyfriend who was waiting for her? He has broken his silence after her murder. 💔
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‎Stanislav “Stas” Nikulytsia, 21, has spoken out for the first time since the brutal killing of his girlfriend, Iryna Zarutska, by sharing a heartfelt post on Instagram.
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‎On Wednesday, Nikulytsia posted a photo of the couple in bathing suits, accompanied only by a broken heart emoji. He also updated his Instagram bio to include a mushroom — one of Zarutska’s favorite symbols — alongside another broken heart.
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‎In his Instagram Stories, he reposted clips criticizing Magistrate Judge Teresa Stokes, who released Zarutska’s alleged killer, Decarlos Brown, on cashless bail earlier this year. One of the posts he shared alleged that Stokes was not a qualified lawyer.
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‎Brown, a career criminal with more than a dozen prior arrests, had been freed in January on a written promise to return for a court date. Seven months later, on August 22, he allegedly attacked Zarutska with a knife aboard a Charlotte train, killing her.
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‎Zarutska’s family said they first grew concerned when she did not return home on time that night. Using her phone location, they saw she was still at the station. “That night, she texted her boyfriend that she would be home soon,” the family said in a statement. “Upon arriving at the station, they were devastated to learn that Iryna had died at the scene.”
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‎Zarutska, who fled Ukraine with her mother and two younger siblings in August 2022, had quickly built a life for herself in the United States. More than 100 residents from an assisted living facility where she once worked attended her funeral, with buses arranged to bring them to the service.
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‎“They didn’t want to come to this country and be a burden. They wanted to come to this country to build a new life,” her uncle told PEOPLE.
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‎In a statement, her family described their grief as “beyond words,” saying:
‎“Iryna came here to find peace and safety, and instead her life was stolen from her in the most horrific way. No family should have to go through this.”