Posted on 04/29/2022 9:47:38 AM PDT by UMCRevMom@aol.com
Vira Hyrych was killed when her apartment was struck by a Russian missile in Kyiv. Radio Freedom photo
The body of Ukrainian journalist Vira Hyrych was pulled out of the wreckage of an apartment building in Kyiv on Friday, a day after two Russian missiles struck the city.
Wary Kyiv residents gathered on April 29 at the scene of the missile strike in the Shevchenkivskyi district, where the first two floors of a newly opened 25-storey apartment building were largely destroyed.
Read more: One month after liberation, Bucha’s morgue is the city’s new nucleus
Two powerful explosions rocked central Kyiv at about 8 p.m. local time on Thursday, shortly after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the city.
Zelenskyy said five missiles had been launched at Kyiv and three were intercepted.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said four people were taken to hospital on Thursday night and rescuers had pulled a body out of the rubble on Friday morning.
Klitschko said there were few residents in the building at the time as it had only just opened.
Hyrych’s employer, Radio Freedom, confirmed her death on Friday in a statement. They said she had worked for the company for four years as a producer and she worked on “leading Ukrainian TV channels” prior to that.
“The editorial board of Radio Svoboda expresses its condolences to the family of Vira Hyrych and will remember her as a bright and kind person, a true professional,” the statement said.
The attack came shortly after Zelenskyy and Guterres held a press conference in which Guterres condemned the atrocities committed by Russian soldiers in towns such as Bucha, which he toured during the day.
Damage from a powerful blast in Kyiv on Thursday evening as seen on April 29. Ashleigh Stewart/Global News
During his visit, Guterres urged Russia “to accept to cooperate” with ongoing investigations into war crimes by the International Criminal Court (IRCC).
Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov was also in Kyiv for a meeting with Zelenskyy on Thursday.
Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba said the city was struck with Russian cruise missiles and called it a “heinous act of barbarism.” 'We heard two rockets whistling over our heads'
On Friday morning, residents of the Shevchenkivskyi district arrived at the apartment building to assess the damage.
Emergency services were picking through the wreckage and removing rubble. The windows of buildings in the immediate vicinity were blown out, as well as some buildings hundreds of metres down the street.
Some residents watched on in horror, while others wept.
For many, Kyiv had been something of a safe haven when Russian troops retreated from the area on March 31 after largely being stalled in their advance on the capital in the surrounding districts of Bucha, Irpin and Hostomel.
Until now, Kyiv had also largely escaped the shelling that has been inflicted on the rest of Ukraine.
“I’m just shaking,” Lyudmula Dekalo said through tears, as she stared up at the destroyed apartment building, located just around the corner from where she lives.
Lyudmula Dekalo said she refused to leave her hometown and would collect Molotov cocktails to defend her city. Global News
Dekalo said her apartment, where she lives alone, shook when the missiles made landfall. She said she reacted by trying to hold up her walls with her hands.
She said she did not sleep at all because she was worried about the fate of the people inside the building that was hit.
Read more: Large explosions rock Kyiv after UN chief meets with Ukraine’s Zelenskyy
Dekalo said she left Kyiv in the early weeks of the war, first to Irpin and then to a town near Lviv when fighting in Irpin intensified, and only returned after the Russians retreated.
“We knew of course about the air sirens but there are air sirens all around Ukraine. It doesn’t matter where we are, it’s horrible and scary for people’s lives,” she said.
However, she will not leave again.
“I will collect Molotov cocktails, just in case. And we will remove these bandits from our country and we will remember everyone,” she said.
Olena was in her apartment in the building next door, on the ninth floor, with her husband when the missile strikes took place. She said she heard a huge explosion and saw a lot of dust, and one of her windows blew out.
She said there were no air raid sirens at the time of the attack, so she did not understand what was happening. Olena added she believes she was “lucky” to escape unharmed.
Pavlo Kosetskiy was with his daughter in their kitchen in the building next-door when the explosions took place.
“I first saw the flash and then heard the sound. The windows in our kitchen were destroyed,” he said.
“My daughter started screaming and my two other daughters ran out of the other room. They started shouting. We hid in the corridor. After that, we heard another explosion when we were already hidden in the corridor.”
Kosetskiy had returned to Kyiv just a few days ago after earlier evacuating, because he thought “the situation is calm.”
He said his two oldest daughters understood what was happening in the war, but his youngest daughter “just thinks it’s thunder.”
“We are very angry that our country is under attack from Russia and I agree to fight against this country for the sake of my daughters,” he said.
Tatiana Mazur said she heard ‘two rockets whistling over our heads’ while she was out walking her dog. Ashleigh Stewart/Global News
Tatiana Mazur was out walking her dog with her husband nearby when she heard the incoming missiles.
“We heard two rockets whistling over our heads, then we heard a lot of noise and saw a big cloud, like a fire,” she said.
Mazur, a doctor, said she stayed in Kyiv during the war because she and her husband are doctors and “want to help.” She said she did not want to become a refugee and wanted to put her skills to use here.
She said she feels safe “from time to time,” but it is not safe anywhere in Ukraine and she understands the risk of staying.
“We get used to it but still it’s very scary when it’s coming near our house, near you,” she said.
However, she had been buoyed by the resilience of her people.
“[Ukrainians] believe in themselves, it’s very important. If we stop supporting each other we will stop being Ukrainians.”
...will be treated much as the apologists for Hitler or Stalin were subsequent to WW2
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You do realize the U.S. was alien with Stalin in WW2, right?
“We’ve always been at war with Eastasia.”
Making Lyudmula a combatant.
I agree.
Funny, she didn’t look like a Nazi.
/s
L
I know! I have to say I laughed at some of their outrage as if any country that goes to war has some sort of right to not have their homeland attacked.
I am grateful that the USA only really suffered 9/11 in my lifetime but had Libya, Syria, or even Iraq struck back at us during the wars I would not have been surprised or outraged. Not in the least.
Things happen when you go to war. Not always things you want or expect.
Lyudmula Dekaloisn’t traveling to Russia to attack anyone.
Remember Putin said this “isn’t a war!”
She will use only collect Molotov cocktails in defense for herself, family and city.
Yes. *during* WW2. Speaking well of his subsequent actions in Eastern Europe didn’t do a lot for one’s social standing. I think it’s one thing to support the Russians killing Nazis in 1944, something else to explain or justify -even accuse the victims of provoking - something like Czechoslovakia in 1948 or Hungary in 1968
It was, to my mind, a very dark part of our history as to how FDR got rolled by Stalin; more paranoid minds than mine see vast one-world conspiracies, I just see FDR’s hubris and incompetence.
We were allied with Saddam, too, as long as he was killing Iranians.
Still makes her a combatant.
Yes, they sure are. How anyone purporting to be “conservative” can support that KGB thug Putin defies credulity.
Agreed.
Good observations.
Well, he hates gays and hangs out with the Patriarch, so of course he’s better than people merely fighting for their country against an unprovoked fascist invasion. Some folks aren’t ‘conservative’, they just like Strong Leaders.
If she was being raped, would you consider hers a combatant if she tried to defend herself?
Yeah, if one of those Azov guys was raping her she still would be a combatant.
She was a journalist. They are not nice.
The Russian apologists, on this site, are disgusting.
—————-
As are all the Ukie war cheerleaders. Rallying up the people for war, war, war is disgusting, how about what Trump stated” where are the cries for peace, negotiations”?
Like the Covid scam, minds have been made up early on. Those that were deceived into taking the shots will never admit they were bamboozled. Those that bought into war will never admit both parties are evil, corrupted.
The common link? Listening to MSM and Potato Head Joe.
Don’t get sucked in, again.
Yes. *during* WW2. Speaking well of his subsequent actions in Eastern Europe didn’t do a lot for one’s social standing. I think it’s one thing to support the Russians killing Nazis in 1944, something else to explain or justify -even accuse the victims of provoking - something like Czechoslovakia in 1948 or Hungary in 1968
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Do you understand the Orwell quote in this regard?
“We’ve always been at war with Eastasia.”
There is nothing but evil on both sides. When Biden and the media are convincing us that Russia is evil be very careful and understanding of the agenda.
Do not bite into the media’s message. This does not end well.
A little defensive are you. Perhaps you should stop watching the MSM so much and follow journalists on the ground. There are several from various nations who have been there and have witnessed the deceptive behaviors. And you have certainly have fallen for it. Your choice. But, name calling is ridiculous. Chill. No ones coming for you. Stop acting like it’s personal.
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