Maria Kadurina wraps a blanket around her four-year-old son, sitting in an office chair in front of her still-burning building in kyiv, which was hit by a volley of missiles fired by Russia. "We live... we lived here," the young woman corrects herself, with agitated eyes and bleeding lips. "It's over, we have nothing left," confirms this 29-year-old taxi driver, whose car was also destroyed in the attack.
Smoke still rises from several floors of this large Soviet-era apartment block on Kudriachova Street, near the capital's main train station. Residents believe it caught fire when a Russian missile was shot down by Ukrainian air defense in the morning. The attacks left at least two dead and 49 injured in kyiv.
Some of its residents wear bandages to heal their wounds and warm themselves under a Polish Red Cross tent.
Maria Kadurina, who lived on the third floor, was preparing her son for kindergarten when she heard the explosions. "I covered him with my body, I was a little lacerated by the shrapnel but the child is safe and sound," she says. She only had time to take some plastic bags and some candy. Now, her belongings are burned or wet from the firefighters' water. "Everything floats in the apartment," she says.
Galina Soloviova, 79, also lived in the building and has her face bandaged after hitting her head in the explosion. "It's a real horror to be left with nothing," she says, helped by her 27-year-old grandson and her daughter, who lived with her on the seventh floor. She laughs as she tells how she crawled through the rubble because she couldn't find warm pants for her grandson, so she finally gave him one of her own.
"What should I do, cry? We'll probably cry later. Actually, it's unlikely, we'll just tough it out," he says.
Kiev residents woke up Tuesday morning to warning sirens followed by several waves of explosions strong enough to shake buildings in the city center. According to local authorities, for the first time this winter, Russian attacks caused electricity, water and gas outages. kyiv had not been attacked for several months, so its inhabitants trusted in the anti-aircraft defense system that protected them.
The apartment of Valentina Gerda, 53, was on the first floor and was not as damaged as others. However, her neighbors are badly hurt. "This is what they [the Russians] do to us. It's very painful," she says. Residents are also angry that the Ukrainian defense failed to save their homes. Ukrainian authorities have asked Western countries to send more anti-aircraft systems.
"We don't have any protection. I would like [the Westerners] to give us at least some shells, at least something, at least protection from the sky," Valentina pleads.
