Smoke rises from a hill in the city of Kharkiv. Ukraine’s second largest city has been hit by another attack. Several of the rockets hit a residential area just outside the city center. The people who live there were shaken by five powerful explosions.
– There were such violent explosions! I am 73 years old, and had to run down to the bomb room, naked and without shoes. It exploded just 70 meters from me. It’s so awful, Fedor tells us.
We meet him and other neighbors as we arrive at the place where the smoke rises from. Everyone is affected by the fact that their neighborhood has been hit by an attack. The fire crews have just arrived, and firefighting work is underway in a house a little further down the street.
Has become a target for the Russians
For the people of Kharkiv, attacks like this have become part of everyday life. The city has been attacked daily since the war began almost two months ago.
– Every day the ground shakes. Yesterday and the day before yesterday it was tough. They bombed so violently that everything shook. I pour down with sedatives, both day and night. I do not know when this will end. I want peace, says Fedor to us.
The tears flow as he talks to us. Living with the threat of being hit at any time costs effort.
Tried to save the family dog
The house that was hit has been badly damaged. The back is completely damaged. Although the fire crews work efficiently and quickly gain control of the flames, the rest of the house is also badly damaged.
– CONSTANT: The fire crews say that they go out on such discoveries every day. Photo: Bent Skjærstad / TV 2
–
The owner, Andrey, along with neighbors and friends try to save his car from the garage before it’s too late.
Fortunately, he was not home when the rocket hit. And his wife and children have already fled the war and the country.
– I heard the bombs fall. I thought they hit the park. But then my neighbors called and told me my house was on fire, Andrey tells us.
– RUN IN: Andrey ran into the burning house to save the dog, Betty. Photo: Bent Skjærstad
–
He is full of soot and sores on his face. He came home to the house to save what could be saved. And not least to find the family dog, the four-year-old German Shepherd Betty.
– What I saw in my house I can not say anything about without using swear words, Andrey says to us.
He is clearly marked. Friends and neighbors flock to and help him and give him good hugs.
None of them have seen Betty after the attack. Some of the neighbors tell us that it was killed in the attack.
Shaken by attacks on civilians
– What should I do? Now I’m just going to cry, says Andrey.
Friends come and try to get him to sit down. And then suddenly Betty shows up, and we witness a cordial reunion.
– BACK: Betty returned to Andrey while TV 2 was present. Photo: Bent Skjærstad / TV 2
–
Betty licks Andrej’s grimy face and he kisses the dog lovingly. It becomes a bright spot in the middle of a tragic situation.
– She was probably terrified when the rockets hit and ran as far away as possible, Andrej says.
– REUNITED: Betty does not let Andrey disappear from her side after they were reunited. Photo: Bent Skjærstad
–
He sits down and enjoys Betty. Glad to get her back. For Andrey has lost so much in this war. The family is in another country. Their house is a ruin. Andrey is angry and despairing over how the Russians are ruining the lives of him and his neighbors.
– Of course it’s Russian bombs. They used Grad. There are no military targets here, why are they firing on civilians?
– TV 2’s team, photographer Simen Askjer and journalist Bent Skjærstad, are in place in the war-torn city of Kharkiv Photo: Michael Mawhinney
–
–
