"I had everything, and now I have nothing": the story of a woman who miraculously survived the Russian attack on Zaporizhzhia
Anna Prus, her husband and their child miraculously survived when their apartment block in Zaporizhzhia was hit by a Russian missile on 2 March 2023.
At 01:30 in the morning on 2 March, there was an explosion in Anna’s apartment block. Anna, her husband and their five-year-old child managed to hide in the corridor, and that saved their lives.
"We were asleep in our bedroom: my husband, our five-year old daughter and I. We woke up after the first strike and rushed into the corridor. Then the second explosion happened, and we miraculously survived," Anna recalls.
Anna’s daughter did not even realise what had happened: she was sound asleep.
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Anna’s neighbour, who lived on the other side of the wall in the same building, was killed. Anna did not know the woman personally; she just used to see her on the balcony next to hers.
The apartment in which Anna lived is now uninhabitable: three floors collapsed onto it, the ceiling was destroyed, one wall is missing, and the other walls are covered in cracks.
The Prus family are now living with friends.
"Those Russian bastards and the terrorist state took my neighbours’ lives and destroyed our home! We had everything in our apartment, and now there is nothing left," says Anna.
Anna says her neighbours whose apartments were destroyed or are now too dangerous to live in have nowhere to live. She recalls witnessing a conversation between the residents and a representative of the local authorities who told them that finding accommodation was their problem.
The woman publicised this information. Zaporizhzhia City Council responded, "There is a video on the internet in which a woman who lived in the destroyed apartment block, whom I have never met and have never talked to, claimed that I told her that rehousing people is their problem, not the problem of the city authorities.
During all this time, only one person has approached us asking to be rehoused, and that person was provided with accommodation in a modular residential complex. Everyone who asks us will be provided with accommodation," Anatolii Kurtniev, Secretary of Zaporizhzhia City Council, stated on his Telegram channel.
On 6 March, the city authorities held a meeting with the survivors. Anna was offered a place in a modular residential area.
"They say it is possible to live there, but the living conditions are not like in an apartment. As regards our apartment block, a commission will decide whether it will be demolished or not. We’ll stay at our friends’ place for now, then we’ll see," Anna says.
So far only volunteers have helped her family, providing them with food and offering them some clothes.
According to the latest reports, 13 people lost their lives in the Russian attack on the city of Zaporizhzhia.
Among those killed in the attack were the Furnyk family, a young married couple and their eight-month-old daughter Emilia.
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