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RESEDA, Calif. () — A Ukrainian woman who fled the war in her home country with her fiancé is now mourning his death after a fatal crash near the border of Tarzana and Reseda, which police say was caused by a driver running a red light.
Yaroslav Ponomarenko and Viktoriia Salarova left Ukraine after Russia’s invasion began and eventually settled in California to build a new life together. Three years later, that future was cut short when Ponomarenko was killed in a July 5 crash.
According to police, the 41-year-old construction worker was driving home from the gym when a Porsche ran a red light on Victory Boulevard in Reseda and struck his vehicle.
Ten days after the crash, Salarova returned to the scene carrying a hat she said belonged to her fiancé. She said she found it among debris along the curb after the collision.
“That’s his favorite hat. He used to wear it all the time. He went to the Metallica concert. That was my gift for him for his birthday,” Salarova said.
She said she hopes people remember Ponomarenko for the person he was and the happiness he found in the United States.
“I wish people would know him the way he was, because he really loved this country… he was so happy,” she said. “Because he said, ‘I feel like that’s the land where I feel so happy… that’s where I’m going to get some success.'”
The crash has left Salarova alone in the United States as she faces funeral expenses, bills and the possibility of a criminal investigation into Ponomarenko’s death.
“From what the police told me, she was speeding on a red light with highway speed, and she hit him on the driver’s side and he died on impact,” Salarova said.
Salarova has created a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for funeral expenses and the loan on the couple’s car, which was totaled in the collision.
Reflecting on the life she and Ponomarenko were trying to build after leaving Ukraine, Salarova described the loss as devastating. “We came from Ukraine, we tried to build something, step-by-step, and one day, just random day… just heartbreaking,” she said.
Los Angeles Police Department Valley Traffic detectives told Eyewitness News that the 35-year-old driver behind the wheel of the Porsche has not been arrested and was transported to the hospital with severe injuries.
The investigation into the deadly crash is ongoing, and detectives are looking for any witnesses to come forward.
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