In the flood-hit hometown of President Zelenskyi in Ukraine, residents feel they are part of a “missile lottery”. Who will be hit next?
Less than 20 minutes ago
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The Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih was the scene of what almost did not become a gigantic disaster on Wednesday:
Several rockets arrived at a terrible speed towards the Karachun Dam, hitting it in several places. It was close to the entire exploding structure and the populous city risked being flooded.
Kryvyi Rih is the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelensky and is located in the Dnipropetrovsk region in the center of the country. Ukrainian authorities were quick to call it a Russian missile attack. President Zelensky said Russia was trying to flood the city.
The attack was confirmed by the Norwegian Media Verifiable Joint Verification Project Indeed, and according to the think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) probably eight cruise missiles hit the city.
On Thursday, city residents report new missile attacks.
One of them is Inna, 28 years old.
– I just saw a rocket strike nearby
– I’ll take pictures of you during the lunch break, writes Inna, who doesn’t want her last name in print, to VG on Instagram.
Although the war is in full swing, he is at work in a bank in Kryvyi Rih.
– If we hear an alarm, we have to stop working and go to the bomb room.
It is located in the center and not in the most affected area. But in the videos he sends on his way from work in a residential area, you can see that the water is rising there too.
– I just saw a rocket strike nearby, he suddenly writes.
At the same time, at 13:00 local time, the head of the military administration of Kryvyi Rih, Oleksandr Vilkul, reports on its Telegram channel that there has been a new missile attack on the city.
Some time later, he reports that it had hit an industrial area, that the damage was severe, but that no deaths have yet been reported.
Shortly after 4 pm, he reports again on the alleged missile attacksand urges people to take refuge in air-raid shelters.
VG currently has no further information on these incidents.
Disaster averted for a while
According to The New York Times Kryvyi Rih narrowly avoided disaster on Wednesday. The dam had been damaged, but the hole wasn’t huge.
This was reported by the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU). Telegram-konto Thursday that they opened an investigation after Wednesday’s missile attack.
– Actions are nothing more than war crimes, says interim SBU leader Vasyl Malyuk.
– Russia is unable to win on the battlefieldand desperately tries to attack civilian targets and critical infrastructure.
The family was evacuated
– If there was another attack, there could be significant damage to civilian infrastructure and residential buildings, Roman Fedorchenko, resident of Kiev and Kryvyi Rih, wrote to VG on Facebook.
He points out that he is currently not in the city, as he is a military officer in the Ukrainian army. However, Fedorchenko is in close contact with family and friends who update him on the situation.
More than 100 homes were flooded after the missile attack on the dam, he writes State emergency services of Ukraine on Telegram Thursday.
On Thursday morning, Fedorchenko posted this photo and writes that it shows his garden in Kryvyi Rih:
– My family and friends have been evacuated. People went to schools and dormitories, others had rooms with friends, she writes to VG.
He opened an investigation
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) writes that the flooded Inhulets River is important for Ukraine’s counter-offensive along the Kherson-Mykolaiv border and that Russian forces probably attacked the dam to destroy the Ukrainian floating bridges.
But the dam is also important for the inhabitants of Kryvyi Rih: for drinking water, for industry and as a protection against floods. More than 5,000 families are now without drinking water, according to Fedorchenko.
– Russian barbarians can cause disaster, it can be like a tsunami, he writes to VG.
– I hope everyone knows about the terrible terrorist attacks that the Ukrainians are undergoing. The Russians test the world: “If we do this, what will the reaction be?” And if there is no reaction, the next step will be even more frightening and bloody, continue.
A lottery of life and death
Inna, 28, has finished working in the bank and tells VG about a daily life in war:
– I went to the river to show you the current situation, and at that moment a rocket flew over my head and hit a nearby quarry. Filming was banned for security reasons shortly after.
When VG asks her how she is, she replies:
– It’s going well, I was a little scared because my father works in a nearby quarry. But he got in touch and everything went well.
The war has now lasted almost seven months. Inna writes that she is “trying to cope” with the situation and that she has to take sedatives.
– Whenever a rocket hits, you feel a shock and fear for your life and that of your loved ones, he writes.
Two of his college friends have already been killed in the war and his brother-in-law has lost a leg, he says.
– It’s actually a lottery because you don’t know where the rocket will land this time.
Inna doesn’t think her situation is bad for the moment. He points out that she has an apartment, a job and that all of her relatives are with her.
– Many are in a much worse situation.
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