Wladimir Klitschko Vows To Keep Hayden Panettiere's Memory Alive For Their Daughter Kaya

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The following article includes mentions of postpartum depression and substance use.

Hayden Panettiere died unexpectedly on August 16, 2026. She's survived by her 11-year-old daughter, Kaya Evdokia Klitschko, and her ex-fiancé, Wladimir Klitschko, both of whom live in Ukraine. Wladimir has since posted a heartbreaking tribute to Panettiere on Instagram. He included a selfie of their family, with Kaya on Panettiere's shoulders, and he wrote, "Hayden was, although no longer my partner, an important part of my life and the mother of our daughter, Kaya. ... To our daughter Kaya, I will always speak of her mother with respect and make sure she remembers the person she was."

The couple first started dating in 2009, and had an on-and-off relationship over the years. The two got engaged in 2013; however, by 2018, they had split for good. That was also the year Panettiere gave Wladimir full custody of Kaya.

Considered one of the tragic details of Panettiere's life, it wasn't a decision she made lightly. In her memoir, "This Is Me: A Reckoning," Panettiere said "not being under the same roof with her every day has been the most gut-wrenching experience of my life." Wladimir had asked for full custody of their daughter, and while Panettiere thought about fighting it, she ultimately didn't. "Kaya needed to feel at rest, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally," she wrote in her book."Could I fight Wlad? Sure. Did I want to? Yes. But should I? No. I couldn't do it to my Kaya" (via Entertainment Weekly).

While Hayden Panettiere transformed professionally from a child actor into a TV star, she had long wanted to be a mother. In an interview on the "Jay Shetty Podcast," which aired in May 2026, she said, "I always dreamt of becoming a mom. ...It was something that I always knew that I would be, always wanted to be. And I had all these ideas in my head of the kind of mother that I was going to be." However, things didn't work out the way she'd dreamt when Kaya was born.

Panettiere was painfully honest about her struggles with postpartum depression and how she used alcohol to try and deal with it at first. "I was miserable," she told Shetty. "I was in tears all the time." Panettiere experience a long-term addiction to alcohol and opioids. It took time and work to get to a better place, and Panettiere and Kaya were in a good place not long before she died.

Panettiere talked about her relationship with Kaya with NPR. "I spend as much time as I can with her," she said. "I have a great relationship with — co-parenting relationship with Wlad I'm incredibly grateful for. ...If I can't be there with her physically, then I talk to her all the time on FaceTime." Panettiere was also glad her daughter was able to grow up outside the limelight. Our hearts go out to Kaya and Wladimir at this challenging time.

If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).