“Thank God drone didn’t hit our building”: consequences of Russian overnight attack on Kharkiv’s center

UKRAINE, KHARKIV, Feb 26 — Around midnight, Russia hit Kharkiv with three kamikaze drones of Geran type in a span of 20 minutes, attacking Kyivskyi and Shevchenkivskyi districts of the city and injuring two senior women, reported local authorities. The attack damaged a residential building, opera theater, university, and restaurant in the city’s center. 

Gwara Media has been to the impact site, documented the consequences of the attack, and talked to the witnesses. 

Locals heard the first explosions in Kharkiv at around 00:10 in Shevchenkivskyi district of the city. Later, it occurred that the drone hit the roadway on one of the central streets of the city, damaging window glass and a facade of a seven-story residential building, said Dmytro Chubenko, spokesman for the Kharkiv regional Prosecutor’s office.

The wave of explosion also damaged a university and the building of an opera theater. No injuries have been reported from this impact site. 

“I live on the fifth floor; I heard the sound become louder and louder. I realized that something was flying [towards us], then — a loud explosion. My son and I weren’t near the window, which is why we weren’t injured by the glass shards,” said Liudmyla Fetkiv, a woman who lived in a building near the epicenter of the explosion. In her family’s flat, all windows have been blown out. “Thank God Shahed didn’t hit the building, thanks for that at least.” 

Rescuers at the impact site of Russian attack on Kharkiv on Feb 26 / Photo: Oleksandr Manchenko, Gwara Media

Rescuer at the impact site of Russian attack on Kharkiv on Feb 26 / Photo: Oleksandr Manchenko, Gwara Media

In the Kyivskyi district, because of Geran drone hitting a nine-story building, a fire caught a flat on the second floor, partially damaging the wall and windows. 

“Luckily, there was no one in the flat,” Dmytro Chubenko said. 

Two women, 40 and 86, got acute stress reactions because of the attack—rescuers helped take them out of the building as they had mobility issues. They also managed to save another five people from the fire. 

Residential building targeted by Russian attack on Kharkiv on Feb 26 / Photo: Oleksandr Manchenko, Gwara Media

Residential building targeted by Russian attack on Kharkiv on Feb 26 / Photo: Oleksandr Manchenko, Gwara Media

At around 00:30 in Kyivsky district, there was another explosion, with no casualties reported. 

After the attacks, Kharkiv prosecutors opened a pre-trial investigation into the Russian army committing a war crime. 

Russia attacks Ukraine’s second-city often: Kharkiv is just 19 miles from the border with Russia and close to the frontline. 

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