The chief accountant for a Palo Alto technology company and her two children were killed in Ukraine while trying to escape from the city of Irpin, according to an online statement by her company, SE Ranking.

Tatiana Perebeinis and her children, Alise and Nikita, were killed by Russian mortar artillery on Sunday, March 6, while trying to get out of the city northwest of Kyiv, which had no water supply, electricity or heating, according to SE Ranking's Facebook post.

"There are no words to describe our grief or to mend our pain," the post read. "But for us, it is crucial to not let Tania and her kids Alise and Nikita remain just statistics. Her family became the victim of the unprovoked fire on civilians, which under any law is a crime against humanity."

Perebeinis had worked for SE Ranking for five and a half years and was one of the first employees to join the firm's Kyiv office, company spokesperson Ksenia Khirvonina said in an email.

Khirvonina remembered her colleague as an expert in financial regulations who would patiently answer questions from co-workers and clearly explain all the nuances of an issue.

"The whole team adored Tania. You could always ask her for some personal advice or share your worries — she would find the right words for everyone," Khirvonina said. "Tania had a wonderful sense of humor. She was a great storyteller and would always make us laugh by telling funny stories about her kids, her husband, or the apartment remodeling."

After the Russian military invaded Ukraine, Perebeinis's apartment building was destroyed and she was forced to shelter in the basement, Khirvonina said. According to SE Ranking's Facebook post, she and her two children were killed while trying to evacuate on Sunday.

"We have no words to address those finding excuses for this war — only curses," Khirvonina said.

The Russian military's invasion of Ukraine started on Feb. 24. As of the end of the day local time on Tuesday, March 8, the United Nations had confirmed that 516 civilians have been killed in Ukraine, with another 908 injured. The United Nations reported that the true numbers are likely considerably higher.

SE Ranking has offices in both Palo Alto and London, according to its website, and wrote in a March 1 blog post that a large part of its team are Ukrainian.

"Some of us have spent days on the road striving to bring our families to a safer place," content marketer and editor Svetlana Shchehel wrote in the March 1 post. "Some are still in Kyiv and other cities of Ukraine, trying to do their daily routine to the sounds of air raid sirens. All of us feel scared and devastated, but also hopeful and strong."

According to the American Community Survey of the U.S. Census, there are about 114,146 residents in Santa Clara County who report having Ukrainian ancestry. In recent weeks, local Ukrainians and their allies have held rallies to urge greater U.S. support for Ukraine in the conflict.

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