Once again sheltering underground, we try to rationalise this assault on our parks, universities and museums
First of all, it’s scary to be bombarded. For five hours and 37 minutes dozens of rockets launched from the Caspian and Black seas hit Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, where I live and work. Each of them could destroy your house. As a reporter travelling in the areas most affected by the war I’ve seen the horrific damage that these strikes can cause. Just one hit can destroy a multi-storey apartment building, leaving a burnt skeleton – over the weekend an attack like this in Zaporizzhya took at least 13 lives.
Today Ukrainians experienced one of the biggest air attacks since the start of the Russian invasion. For the first time, missile strikes hit the very centre of the Ukrainian capital, where at least five people were killed, and dozens wounded. These were mainly passengers from the community taking their cars to work on Monday morning. Five more airstrikes followed.
Nataliya Gumenyuk is a Ukrainian journalist specialising in foreign affairs and conflict reporting, and author of Lost Island: Tales from the Occupied Crimea
