Ilkin Nazarov, 29: Only child was ‘the center of his parents’ world’
Murdered by Hamas terrorists at the Supernova music festival on October 7
Ilkin Nazarov, 29, from Kiryat Yam, was murdered by Hamas terrorists at the Supernova music festival on October 7.
He was initially declared missing, with his family having seen videos of him hiding inside a trash bin with a group of partygoers, according to a 104.5FM radio interview on October 9 with his cousin Zarina. Nazarov sent a message to his father on the morning of the attack, saying he was hiding, and then lost contact.
“Dad, don’t worry, we’re hiding inside a container,” he wrote. “I love you.”
His body was identified within a few days of the massacre, according to a local northern Israel news report.
According to his cousin Eran Golaev, whose eulogy was posted on social media and local news sites, terrorists may have thrown a grenade into the container where Nazarov was hiding. However, the official cause of death was not made known to the public.
“You were always smiling, you were always kind. You never fought with anyone,” Golaev said at the funeral.
“I wrote to the other cousins that we would have a party in honor of your return and today, really, everyone was there. All the family and friends. But it’s not because you came back — certainly not in the way we wanted.”
Nazarov was an only child and is survived by both his parents as well as his extended family. “Please watch over your parents,” Golaev said. “They have no other child but you.”
He was “the center of his parents’ world,” according to close friend and roommate Vika Ostrovksy, who eulogized Nazarov on social media.
According to her, Nazarov was “the most loyal to his friends and family, ready to go to other ends of the Earth in times of need.”
“The meaning of his name in his native language is ‘first,'” Ostrovsky wrote. “He was definitely one and only. Always smiling. In my eyes, he was an angel on Earth.”
