Russia fires rockets at Ukraine. Possibly indiscriminately and even hits playgrounds - like in Kyiv. Impressions from the Ukrainian capital in shock.
Above the pretty, wooded Taras Shevchenko Park in the center of Kyiv white smoke still rises. There is a deep crater in the ground, branches have broken off, and a playground has been devastated. Shortly after 8 a.m. Monday morning, two rockets hit the affluent neighborhood in quick succession - one in the park, the other 300 meters away at an intersection.
Cars are just charred, twisted wrecks
The windows of the houses on the edge of the park have shattered, and there are broken glass on the ground. The force of the explosion ripped out the door of a restaurant, and employees are already sweeping up the rubble.
The facade of the glass building in Kyiv was destroyed after rocket attacks, the couple in front of it are apparently doing reasonably well.
There is also a gaping hole in the asphalt at the crossroads. The ones parked next to it cars are just charred, twisted wrecks. Not far from there lies a corpse that has been covered with a tarpaulin. A water pipe was also hit, causing water to rush down the street leading to the city center. Experts examine the crater cordoned off with red and white tape. Armed police stand guard.
Ivan Polyakov sits on a bench across from the park. The 22-year-old is still very pale and finds it difficult to speak. He's in shock. "I only arrived in Kyiv this morning. I was walking down the street and then there were the explosions," he says. "I have children and see women cry. I love Kyiv, the people are good, they are brave. And then from one moment to the next comes death."
Ksenia Riazantseva and her husband live on the street by the park across from the playground. The first rocket, which hit the crossroads, roused her from her sleep. "When we wanted to check, there was already the second explosion," reports the 39-year-old teacher. "At first we didn't understand what had happened. We saw the smoke, the cars and then we realized that we no longer had windows. Luckily we live on the courtyard side."
Riasantsewa cannot understand why this particular district was attacked. "There is a university here, two museums, but no military targets or anything like that. They just kill civilians," she says angrily. These were the first attacks on the Ukrainian capital since June 26.
For Serhiy Agapov, who is painting the framing of a bust on a facade opposite the park, there is no doubt: the rocket fire is in retaliation for the explosion on the Crimean bridge on Saturday. "It all started after the Crimean bridge. Yesterday Zaporizhia, today Kyiv. Yes, I think that's revenge - terrible and cruel because civilians are suffering," he says. "We don't understand why they are doing this to us, what's the point of it all?"
A Russian MP, meanwhile, has denied allegations that Russia is intentionally targeting civilian targets like playgrounds in the Ukraine shoots at. "If you see some missiles and attacks on children's playgrounds, they were the result of the work of the missile defense system, the Ukrainian system," said Yevgeny Popov of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party. "Our missiles all targeted energy infrastructure, communications centers and military headquarters."
nik
AFP
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