The first thing that meets us when we enter the neighborhood is the sight of a despairing and shocked woman. She sticking her head out the window. The glass is gone, only a few pieces remain in the frames.
– BLOWED OUT: The windows were blown out of houses, several hundred meters from the building that was hit by the missile. Photo: Bent Skjærstad / TV 2
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The neighborhood we are heading into has recently been hit by a violent explosion. Firefighters are working to extinguish the flames. Cars are burnt out in the streets.
– MAJOR DAMAGE: The damage can be seen several hundred meters up on both sides of the street. Photo: Bent Skjærstad
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Everything is destroyed
Objects that have been blown out through the windows of the building that were hit by the missile are scattered across the street.
The affected area is located in the center of Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv. Here there are apartments, cafes and shops. All buildings in the street are affected. Outside one of them we meet Aleksey. He has lost his livelihood in the attack.
– It’s awful. Everything is destroyed. You can see inside, he says and takes us into the shoe store.
The entire facade is destroyed by the pressure wave.
– FRAME: Aleksey’s shoe store was badly damaged after the attack. Photo: Bent Skjærstad
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Shoes are thrown between the walls, shelves are torn off the walls and furniture is smashed. Aleksey can not understand why his store and this area is a target for Russian missiles.
– There are only shops and food markets here. Nothing else, says Aleksey.
Is furious at Putin
Two people were killed and 18 injured in the attack. When you see the violent damage and think about how many people live here, it is almost unbelievable that no more human lives were lost.
– JOBS AT BLAST: Firefighters in Kharkiv put out fires after attacks every day. Photo: Bent Skjærstad
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The people who live here are furious with Putin and the Russians.
When we walk around and see the damage the Russian missile has caused, it is really incredible that no more people were killed in the attack. Those who live here are furious with Putin and the Russians.
– See what they do! It’s not humans, it’s animals. They are worse than fascists, much worse, says one of the residents in an apartment block that has been badly damaged.
– My mother lived here during World War II. And even the Nazis were not so brutal, he continues.
Clear message
An elderly man, Alexander, comes up to us and asks us to tell the world about what is happening in Kharkiv. He is furious at Putin and the war he has started.
– You must send a message to Russia! Putin can stick his rockets up where the sun does not shine, says Alexander in an angry and trembling voice.
– FRAUD: Ukrainian Alexander is furious at Putin’s war against Ukraine. Photo: Bent Skjærstad
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Invited in
In the block across the street from the building that was hit by the missile, we see a woman on one of the balconies.
– MAJOR DAMAGES: The block Tatjana (73) lives in, has suffered major damage in the explosion. Photo: Bent Skjærstad
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We talk to her, and she tells us that her name is Tatjana and she is 73 years old. She asks us to come up to the apartment to see.
In the stairwell up we see how the pressure wave has blown through the whole block Tatjana lives in. Even the windows at the back are broken.
Her husband, Dimitri, lets us in. Everything in their apartment is blown over. Tatjana and her husband were lucky. They were in the hallway when it slammed.
– If I were here I would have been buried, says Tatjana and points around the living room which is upside down and full of shards of glass.
– I did not understand what happened, but when I clean here, I understand it.
The only visible injuries she has are some abrasions on her arms.
– Tough: Tatjana is a tough lady, and has no plans to move even if her apartment is demolished. Photo: Bent Skjærstad
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– I do not listen to one ear, but otherwise I’m ok, Tatjana tells us.
No plans to flee
It’s only a little over an hour since the explosion, but she has already shaken off the shock and has started cleaning.
– We are optimistic, what should we do? Should we lie down and cry or run around in a panic? What has happened has happened, says the 73-year-old.
– DESTROYED: This is what it looks like in the kitchen of one of the apartments across the street from the building that was hit by a Russian missile. Photo: Bent Skjærstad
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In the block we are inside, there are over 200 people living. The residents show us around on several floors, and all the apartments look just as bad.
But those who live here are tough and far from easily frightened. The city they live in has been attacked every day since the war started almost two months ago. And now their neighborhood has also been hit hard. But here they have already started to clean up, cover the broken windows and make sure they can stay.
– We have electricity, we have gas. Water is also here. It would be nice to have the windows repaired. But we survive this, Tatjana tells us.
– IN PLACE: TV 2’s team in Kharkiv, photographer SImen Askjer and journalist Bent Skjærstad Photo: Oleksandr Techynskyi
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