"Darkness, night, everything on fire": Kyiv residents speak about Russia's latest attack on Kyiv

Fifteen people were killed and 39 injured as a result of a Russian attack on Kyiv on the night of 19-20 August. Residents of damaged buildings have shared how they survived the night.

Source: Ukrainian public broadcasters Suspilne and Radio Liberty

Details: A multi-storey residential building in the Solomianskyi district of Kyiv was damaged. The State Emergency Service is conducting search and rescue operations there.

Larysa, a resident of the destroyed building, told Suspilne that the explosions occurred shortly before midnight. Larysa lived on the fifth floor and the collapse occurred at the level of the seventh and eighth floors.

"It was very loud, it has never been this loud here. The last loud strike was the missile that hit the building. It caught fire, there was a blaze and destruction, and windows were blown out. People were panicking. Some were calling for their relatives, while others were in a state of complete shock. It was dark, night and everything was burning," Larysa said.

A neighbour of Larysa – a young man – was killed in the strike.

Olena, another resident of the building, said she hid with her family in the bathroom during the overnight attack. Their flat sustained significant damage, with the blast wave blowing out the doors.

"Everything in the flat went flying. The armoured door is lying right in the hallway. I hid in the bathroom with my child and my father. It was terrifying. We have no flat left, everything was blown apart. I just managed to hide my child in the bathroom," she said.

Another resident, Anastasiia, said she decided to go to a shelter early, so she was in a safe place during the attack. She said explosions could be heard in the shelter. Anastasiia then recognised her building from photos on social media and saw that it had been hit by a Russian missile.

"When the air-raid warning is issued, you don't have time to get to a shelter, and if you end up outside afterwards, it would mean certain death. We're not allowed back into our flats because it's too dangerous. But from the windows you can guess the scale of the destruction," she said.

Olha, another citizen affected by the Russian attack, was searching for a dog at the site of the attack – a border collie left with her by her son while he serves in the military.

"One bang. Two bangs. I was sitting in the kitchen. My son is at the front, his border collie is with me, and a cat too. I don't remember how I grabbed just my phone and ran into the corridor – the blast wave blew out the doors. I have two doors. We barely got out. She ran ahead of me and disappeared. I've been walking around looking for her the whole time," Olha told Radio Liberty.

Kyiv police officers told how they rescued a 51-year-old man. He was trapped under rubble after a ballistic missile strike on a warehouse. The man worked as a security guard.

Officers carefully extracted the man and carried him on a stretcher to a safe location. He was in a semi-conscious state and had numerous shrapnel and laceration wounds. He received medical treatment.

Background: On the morning of 14 August, nine-year-old Hlib Kovtunenko and his mother, 29-year-old Olha, were killed when Russia struck their home with two jet-powered drones.

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