Inside his apartment in kyiv, littered with broken glass, Alla Ragulina weeps as she watches her life shattered by a wave of Russian bombing against the Ukrainian capital.
The power of the explosion, at dawn, blew out the windows, and threw this 64-year-old woman, employed in a public office, against a wall.
His mother, blind and unable to walk, is now in hospital, and is one of the latest victims of the bombing campaign fueling fears of a Russian assault on kyiv.
“The explosion was so huge,” says Ragulina, between sobs. “People were sleeping, pieces of glass were flying and I was literally thrown against a wall. It’s a miracle no one was killed.”
Russian forces, trying to encircle kyiv, have intensified their bombardment against the capital, which had so far avoided devastation, unlike Mariupol in the south or Kharkov in the northeast.
kyiv, which is preparing for a siege, was shaken at dawn on Tuesday by four explosions, in residential neighborhood buildings and in a subway station, killing two people.
The attacks could drive more people to flee. It is estimated that about half of the capital’s 3.5 million inhabitants have left.
‘I can not leave’
A large crater has formed at the foot of the building where Ragulina lives, in the Podilsk neighborhood of kyiv. Army and police experts examine the remains of a missile.
Almost every apartment in this ten-story building, which dates back to the Soviet era, shows signs of devastation.
Some are on fire, others full of broken glass and furniture. In one of them, a sewing machine appears, covered in debris.
Some residents try to clean up, others are too stunned to say or do anything
The apartment next to Ragulina’s has been devastated by a fire. In it, the water used by firefighters to put out the fire reaches the ankles.
kyiv has become a ghost town, with empty streets, checkpoints and the fear of an imminent assault by Russian forces.
Many have fled, but others do not want to or do not have the opportunity to do so.
Three million people flee Ukraine, every second a child is a refugee
“I can’t leave the country because my eldest son is 20 years old, and he’s in the army,” explains Olena Yavdoshchuk, 40, a clinic manager, as she picks up shards of glass scattered in a playground.
“It is the reason why I am staying, with my husband, and with my other two children aged ten and three,” she says.
‘You will be next’
As the Russians continue to advance and press militarily, yehe death toll continues to rise, many in kyiv do not understand why the West does not intervene.
They thus echo President Volodymyr Zelensky’s desperate calls for NATO to impose a no-fly zonea demand rejected by the president of the United States, Joe Biden, since it could trigger a Third World War.
“Thank God, we are alive,” says Nataliya, 60, a subway worker. “But look at this!” she exclaims her showing the devastation of her apartment.
“Give us planes, close the skies! The whole of kyiv will be demolished, and where will Putin go next?
“He’s not going to stop, he’s a fanatic. You will be next!” (I)
Source: Eluniverso
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
