- Ben Tobias
- BBC News
On the 14th (local time), an apartment in Dnipro, Ukraine, where a Russian missile fell, is spreading on social media, causing shock and sadness. When the outer wall is torn off, the interior of the kitchen is exposed, giving off a bright and homely atmosphere with yellow cupboards.
Famous boxing coach Mikhailo Korenovsky also lived in the apartment. Coach Korenovski was killed in the missile attack, but his wife and children reportedly survived.
A video was also released showing Coach Korenovski celebrating his birthday at home with his family.
The missile attack killed 40 people, including three children, and about 30 people are missing as of the evening of the 16th.
You can feel the stark contrast between the ordinary life and the abnormal life through the photos of the kitchen where the outer surface was torn off by the bombing. A cozy kitchen where a family must have lived is surrounded by the devastation caused by the sudden Russian attack.
Despite the complete destruction of the exterior walls of the apartment, the modern kitchen, with its bright yellow cupboards, remains relatively intact.
A bowl of apples is on the table, dishes waiting to be washed are placed next to the sink, and oven mitts are still hanging neatly on the other side of the kitchen.
“It’s a place where people would cook, dine, chat, celebrate, laugh and talk,” Ukrainian lawmaker Zoya Yarosh wrote on Facebook.
At the same time, he compared this apartment to the situation in his homeland, Ukraine.
“(The destroyed building) is like a scar on the land of Ukraine. It has left a scar on our home.”
On social media, a story about a family who must have lived a daily life in the kitchen was actively exchanged. It is an opinion that you can feel the image of a family who did their best to live even in a fierce war situation.
“This kitchen reminds me of the apartment I grew up in, the apartment my grandparents lived in, and the apartment my cousins lived in. We used to put two chairs under the dining table,” said Alina, a Twitter user from Ukraine.
Before the missiles landed, this kitchen seems to have been the background of a happy moment for a family. It’s my daughter’s birthday party.
According to a video shared online and republished by the Ukrainian military, a young girl who was presented with a large birthday cake smiles and blows out four candles.
In the video, yellow cupboards, oven mitts on the walls, and televisions are clearly visible.
The people in the video are presumed to be the Korenovsky family. They appear to have survived, but Coach Korenovski lost his life.
It’s not clear when the birthday party video was filmed, but it clearly shows how suddenly war can destroy lives.
Lisa Vogt, a BBC Russian correspondent, said: “Maybe [코레노브스키 코치가] “The apples I would have bought for my family are still on the kitchen table after the building has been destroyed,” he said.