Man charged with murder of woman found dead after Armagh house fire

He is due to appear at Lisburn Magistrates Court on Saturday, March 25.

As is normal procedure, all charges will be reviewed by the Public Prosecution Service.

The news follows confirmation from police on Friday that the deceased woman’s name is Alesia Nazarova.

Ms Nazarova (37) was found dead after a house fire in the Church Street area of Portadown.

A second female, reported to be Ms Nazarova’s 12-year-old daughter, was taken to hospital for treatment following the fire, which broke out at around 2.15am on Tuesday.

She has since been discharged and is now under the care of her aunt, with a charity group raising funds and accepting donations to help her in the aftermath of the blaze, which they said left her with “nothing”.

A GoFundMe has also been set up to help raise funds for the young girl. It has raised almost £10,000 in two days.

It’s understood Ms Nazarova is originally from eastern Europe and had only been living in the area for a short period of time.

In a statement, Women’s Aid Northern Ireland said they expressed their “sincerest condolences” to Ms Nazarova’s family following her death.

“Please know you are all in our thoughts at this most incredibly difficult time. Women and girls deserve to be safe in all areas of our society.

"Alesia is the 17th woman to be murdered in Northern Ireland since 2020, the vast majority of whom were also killed in their own homes."

Green Party NI councillor Rachel Woods, who is also a former Justice Committee member, too expressed her “sadness and anger”.

"This is such a tragic loss of life in what appears to have been a violent and horrific incident. However, it comes in a sickeningly long line of murders and violence committed against women and girls,” she said.

"Also, I am angry that there is no sign of the re-establishment of the Executive and therefore little hope of a much needed strategy to tackle gender based violence.

"We need a Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy - we are still the only part of the UK without one.”