‘I just want to die': Kyiv survivors recount devastating Russian missile strike
Paths strewn with shattered glass, smoke, and white dust hanging in the air. Russia once again attacked Kyiv with hundreds of drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles.
Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, described the destruction as “very serious.” Fires broke out in many districts, and several high-rise buildings were damaged. The hardest hit was a residential neighborhood in the Darnytsia microdistrict, where a Russian missile scored a direct hit on a nine-story building, causing its structure to collapse. The blast wave blew out nearly all the windows in neighboring buildings in the courtyard.
As of 7:17 p.m. on July 2, there were reports of 22 killed and 86 wounded. Rescuers continued clearing rubble, dog handlers searched for those missing, and residents amid the chaos assessed the damage and did not know what to do next.
"I just want to die"
79-year-old Liudmyla greets us in the apartment where she has lived for 56 years. She moves slowly around the room, leaning on a metal walker. In this home, her husband, in-laws and two sons all passed away. Now all that remains for Mrs. Liudmyla is her grandson and her little defender — the dog Bima, who barks fiercely at anyone who crosses the threshold.
At the moment of the strike, the woman was lying in bed. The blast wave tore out the window frame, which flew straight at her along with a pile of sharp glass.
“I was lying right here. And then it happened … the window fell on me. Glass showered down. I somehow crawled out from under that frame … Look what happened in the kitchen, the cabinets fell over. The curtains were ripped out,” she says quietly.
She lowers her eyes and adds: “Horrible emotions. Right now I think I just want to die. Nothing, no one, nothing is left. All the dishes are gone. I cannot even sort the plates — I can barely walk.”
So she sits in the middle of her devastated apartment and waits for her grandson to help carry out the fragments of her life.
"If I had found the socks right away, I probably would have..."
The neighboring courtyard is littered with dirt and pieces of reinforced concrete. Where a playground once stood, there is now a crater. Near the damaged entrance stands a young man named Yaroslav. He recalls how his life nearly ended that night:
“Around 4 a.m. I heard the first missiles flying in. The first one hit the neighboring building. I got up, looked from the balcony. Then, out of habit, I started getting ready to go out and see what was happening. And for some reason I could not find my socks to put on my sneakers.”
The young man searched for the socks for exactly two minutes. At that very moment he heard the whistle of the second missile, which tore through the courtyard.
“If I had found the socks right away, I probably would have…” he says, hinting that he would not be standing here.
"Bought it a week ago. Now it's junk"
Nearby in the courtyard, a man is urgently trying to start his car. This is Nikita. His vehicle is completely covered in stones, the windshield is smashed, and the body looks like a crumpled tin can.
“The car is gone. That is it. It is scrap,” Nikita says sharply, wiping his dirty hands. “You know what is really upsetting? I bought the car a week ago. Now it won’t move. Only good for the junkyard.”
During the explosion, Nikita was at home with his wife, dog and cat. He says it is a miracle no one was hurt, even though all the windows and the front door in the apartment blew out.
When asked what to do next, the man simply shrugs: “I do not even know. I am not counting on compensation from the insurance company — most likely no one will give anything. What to do next? No idea.”
How are the victims being helped?
At the site of the tragedy, operational tents have been set up. Making his way past piles of glass and damaged trees is the Minister of Internal Affairs, Ihor Klymenko.
“Today there was a real miracle here thanks to the work of the rescuers. This is the first time in Ukraine that we were able to pull seven people alive from under the rubble,” the minister reports. “The building is made of silicate, white, not concrete — perhaps that gave us time to clear the rubble faster.”
According to him, services at the site are coordinating their work so that victims receive help here and now.
They are promised payments of 40,000 hryvnias ($894) within three days, and district authorities are already looking for places to relocate people from the destroyed apartments. There are about 38 such people in just one building.
Buses from the migration service stand near the ruined entry sections. Passports and birth certificates that burned or remained under the concrete are promised to be restored free of charge starting today.
Specialists from the Ministry of Internal Affairs service center are conducting damage assessments of wrecked cars (like Nikita’s) right in the courtyard for insurance payments. They are also issuing new driver’s licenses and technical passports free of charge to replace those destroyed.
Minister Klymenko repeats several times: There could have been far more victims, but people were saved because they went down to the nearest bomb shelters. There are 10 of them nearby.
By the way, that night the largest number of people in recent years hid in the Kyiv metro at more than 50,000, the Kyiv Metro reported.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Kyiv was the main target of the Russian strike. The Russians used 74 missiles and 496 drones of various types. Air defense neutralized 48 missiles and 476 unmanned aerial vehicles.
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