Yurii Vakhniak, Ukrainian refugee and father of two, was killed in North Carolina allegedly by a drunk driver.

Vakhniak, the owner of Anastasia Services Inc- a car transportation business, was loading cars when he was fatally struck by a speeding vehicle on March 13. The incident happened along US 70 in Johnston County and repeat DWI offender Seydina Ndiyae was identified as the driver.

Who was Yurii Vakhniak? 

Yurii Vaikhniak was a 40-year-old refugee from Ukraine. He had fled the war-torn life in his home country and started a car transportation business in North Carolina.

It was only in last February, when the Ukraine-Russid war started, Vakhniak moved to the US with his wife Ivanka and two children, Anastasia and Vova.

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Reports say that Vaikhniak was on his way to Tennessee to make a car delivery when he was hit near his three-car hauler. The alleged killer Seydina Ndiyae is now behind bars. 

“These guys work day and night to provide for their family, grow a business and achieve the American dream,” Vaikhnia’s friend Alex Boom told WNCT.

“He was a good guy who gave everything he had to his friends and his family,” Bloom added, describing Vaikhniak as a “fluffy, friendly teddy bear” who sacrificed for those who he loved. 

A GoFundMe campaign dedicated to Vaikhniak says that he had named his company after his daughter, but was not in the US long enough to realise the American dream. 

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“Like many of our Eastern European brothers and sisters, he found work in the transportation industry,” the organizer of the fundraiser said in a statement. 

“He began working as a car hauler so that he could provide for his family and to grow in this country,” he added.