A correspondent for Novini.LIVE, Halyna Ostapovets, visited the scene of the incident.
"He was an extremely tolerant person—celebrating others' successes and understanding their shortcomings," said Mykola Makarchuk, a professor at the Department of Physiology and Anatomy at Taras Shevchenko National University, about his colleague Ihor Zima.
Makarchuk also mentioned that Zima's adopted son had previously died in the war, and prior to that, debris from enemy missiles had damaged his laboratory in Kyiv.
It is worth noting that Zima was a lecturer at the "Institute of Biology and Medicine" at Taras Shevchenko National University. He led a research group focused on neuro- and psychophysiology.
His wife, the late scientist Olesia Sokur, was the author of nearly 200 scientific publications. She participated in numerous national and international scientific conferences, including congresses of the Biochemical, Physiological, and Biophysical Societies of Ukraine, as well as international congresses on biochemistry and gastroenterology.
Olesia was Igor's second wife. His first wife passed away 20 years ago from cancer.
"Unfortunately, his life was filled with the loss of his closest loved ones. He lived his whole life between light and shadow. This made him deeply unhappy," journalist Oleksiy Bobrovnykov shares.
According to Bobrovnykov, Ihor found solace in training new specialists. The neurobiologist also made significant efforts to establish a center to assist children with autism.
Earlier, we reported that on the night of January 1, 2025, Russian troops struck Kyiv with attack drones. As a result of the debris falling, two outstanding university scientists, neurobiologist Ihor Zima and his wife, biochemist Olesia Sokur, lost their lives.
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine in 2014, more than 220 people associated with Taras Shevchenko National University have died due to enemy shelling.