"Graduation from kindergarten during the day, "congratulations" at night": Kyiv resident describes consequences of overnight Russian attack

On the night of 20 May, the Russians attacked Kyiv with Shahed UAVs. Debris from one of them damaged a residential building in the Dniprovskyi district, causing a fire.

Maria is a resident of the Ukrainian capital who witnessed the wreckage of the downed Russian drone falling onto the roof of a neighbouring building. She told UP.Life about the latest disturbing night in Kyiv due to Russian attacks.

Friday, 19 May was Maria’s six-year-old daughter’s last day at kindergarten and there was a graduation party. After an emotional day, the child fell asleep. At night, during the air raid, Maria went out onto the balcony.

"It was about 01:20. My husband and daughter were already asleep. First I heard an explosion. I realised it was the air defence and calmed down. 

But then I heard this sound that’s typical of a Shahed, as if a moped was going by. It was very loud, so I realised that it was flying right over the buildings," Maria says.

She adds that her instinct for self-preservation kicked in, so she decided to go back inside the apartment. In addition to the piercing sound of the drone, some dogs in the yard were howling very loudly.

By now her daughter had woken up and came over to her mother. Maria was just going back in when her daughter came onto the balcony, and she saw the wreckage of the Shahed fall on the building next door.

"They were bright, shining like a bunch of sparks. The sound of a powerful explosion accompanied it [the Shahed – ed.]. I grabbed my daughter in my arms and ran out of the apartment barefoot to take cover. Our apartment is in the attic, that is, right under the roof, and the two-wall rule would not save us," Maria recalls.

The debris fell on the same apartment, but in a different building.

She and her daughter went down to the shelter, while her husband went downstairs and ran to help rescue people from the smoke-filled building.

He cut his palms badly when he was helping others, but said he didn't feel any pain.

According to Maria, the fire took about two hours to put out. Residents of the building were not allowed to go back into their apartments.

"When I’d calmed down, I went to see the aftermath of the fire. I felt nervous again, because I realised that it could have fallen on our apartment," says Maria. 

She adds that the neighbours immediately began to join together to help the people who had the fire. In the morning, they took out the burnt furniture and bought building materials and bags for construction waste.

"A lot of children live in these buildings: they went to the same kindergarten. During the day they had a graduation party, and at night they were 'congratulated' like this," Maria concludes.

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