The IDF announced on Wednesday that Sergeant Aleksandr Iakiminskyi, aged 19 from Nahariya, was murdered in a stabbing attack in a mall in Karmiel in northern Israel.
Iakiminskyi served as a driver in the 71st Battalion, 188th Brigade. During the attack, an additional soldier from his battalion was severely injured.
The terrorist, Joad Rabia', a 20-year-old Israeli Arab from Nahef, a town adjacent to Karmiel, was eliminated by the soldier who was killed. The terrorist's mother, father, sister, and brother came to the mall after the attack and were arrested.
Through his brave act, Iakiminskyi saved his friend's life, as well as the lives of many others in the mall, which was packed on one of the first days of summer vacation.
"There are no kids like this," Aleksandr's mother, Olga, stated. "I'm very proud of him for what he did. They always loved him, from a young age. He had it tough in the army in the beginning, and lately, he felt welcomed there, he liked the people around him, and he got used to the framework and to the fact that he was contributing something. He was supposed to return home tomorrow."
The mother added: "It's important to me that everyone remembers that he was a good and amazing person, that many people love him. I love him. He was always on the road so I was always worried, but whenever I sent him a message he would answer that everything was alright."
Prof. Masaad Barhom, the director of the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya, said that they fought for Aleksandr's life for a long time: "We gave him a lot of blood transfusions, but with all the attempts, we unfortunately had to pronounce him dead." He updated that the second victim is in serious yet stable condition, and his life is not in danger. "He was awake, we calmed him down a bit and cared for him," he recounted.
MDA EMT Ran Moskowitz recalled: "When I arrived at the shopping mall I was sent to the second floor. I saw 2 casualties, males in their 20s, lying close to the stalls with penetrating injuries, one was unconscious. We placed them in the MICU while providing medical treatment, with one in critical condition and the other conscious and in serious condition."