A Russian missile hit a nine-story residential building in Kyiv at approximately 4:00 on May 14. The impact destroyed 18 apartments, a stairwell and part of the entrance.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said in an evening address that they are still figuring out what kind of missiles and drones the Russians used this time.
“According to preliminary data, it was an X-101 missile strike. Production is in the second quarter of this year,” the head of state noted.
According to Suspilne, neighbors and volunteers were among the first to come to the aid of residents after the missile attack.
18-year-old Ivan ran to the house with his father immediately after the explosion. The guy says: when he heard the sound of the rocket, he only managed to cover his ears with his hands, and a moment later there was a powerful explosion. Ivan ran to the balcony, saw smoke and fire and realized that the rocket had hit the house where his friends and acquaintances lived.
When Ivan got to the impact site, rescuers and several volunteers were already working on the rubble.
“My dad wouldn’t let me help, so I walked around him and climbed up the mountain of rubble myself. The fire was burning, everything was smoking. First, I helped the policeman lower a woman with a disability – she couldn’t walk, and the policeman carried her out in his arms,” says Ivan.
Then, together with rescuers, he helped pull out a woman who was pinned under the rubble.
“I returned to the rubble and heard a terrible female scream near the Security Service officer… The woman constantly screamed: “I can’t, I can’t.” We dug up her legs and arm, but we couldn’t go any further – she was crushed by a concrete slab. I held her leg so that the woman would understand that she was with us. While I was digging, I started crying,” says Ivan.
According to him, it was difficult to work due to thick smoke and dust. Nearby, rescuers were putting out a fire, and people were literally raking away concrete and debris of household appliances with their hands. The woman was subsequently rescued and taken to hospital.
As stated in the Suspilny report, residents and relatives of those who had not been in touch gathered near the house all day. Some teenagers were looking for their friends and acquaintances. One of the guys said that their 15-year-old classmate and her father could have remained under the rubble.
Dog handlers and dogs worked at the scene. Rescuers lifted slab by slab, declaring a “minute of silence” several times to hear the voices of people under the rubble.
“You see, the dog has gone,” says an elderly woman next to the teenagers, pointing to a service dog that dog handlers are using to search for people under the rubble. “Dog, find our girl.”
A resident of the house, Vitaly, who lived on the ninth floor, said that he woke up from an explosion and glass that fell right on him.
“I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to go to the toilet, but I don’t have half the kitchen,” says the guy.
Together with his parents, he collected documents and things, and a few hours later rescuers evacuated the family from the house using a crane.
Another resident, Vladimir, says that after the explosion he opened the apartment door and saw that there were no more stairs in the entrance.
“Our apartment is intact, but there is no entrance,” says the man.
As Suspilne reports, when it began to get light, rescuers, volunteers, social services and housing office workers set up aid stations for residents in the courtyard near the house.
Among the tents, Vladimir is constantly talking on the phone. His clothes are covered in dust and there is dried blood on his forehead. The man's wife is just filling out documents for the destroyed housing.
“I lived on the fifth floor, a three-room apartment. One-room and two-room apartments had already collapsed. We were at home at the time of the explosion. My wife went out into the corridor, and the explosion threw me into the bedroom,” says the man.
According to Vladimir, after the explosion he opened the apartment door and saw that there were no more stairs in the entrance.
“Everything in our apartment is intact, but there is no entrance. Rescuers brought us down when the sun had already risen. My head is a mess, but at least the services arrived quickly,” he says.
Neighbors from other entrances say that the explosion found them at home – glass and balcony doors in their apartments were blown out.
“You don’t understand what to do, because you have a small child, you don’t know where to run,” says house resident Yulia.
