“It Was a Direct Hit” Kyiv Survivors Give Firsthand Account of Russia’s Massive Missile Attack

In the early hours of June 17, Russia launched a massive overnight missile and drone strike on Kyiv, killing at least 10 people and injuring more than 100. The man stands in line with his girlfriend, waiting to speak with Ukraine’s Emergency Services.

“The building entrance caved in slightly,” he says. “The stairwell was completely buried, and we realized right then that we had to run—because in another moment, we might not have made it out at all”.

The UNITED24 Media team arrived at the scene of one of Russia’s overnight strikes, where a ballistic missile had destroyed the entrance to a residential building, leaving residents anxiously waiting as rescuers searched for their loved ones beneath the rubble.

The woman in the pink sweater

Beyond the smoke, a red bloodstain on the asphalt tells the story of this place. Many are dead, and many more are wounded. Rescue workers, civilians in pyjamas, and members of the press stand silently, all looking up toward the gutted building.

Suddenly, there is shouting.

A woman in a pink sweater stands at the edge of the destruction, her hands pressed in a prayer position against her lips. A rescue worker steadies her. In these few seconds, she waits for news that may change the course of her life forever.

More shouting. A body has been spotted beneath the rubble. An orange plastic stretcher is making its way up the debris toward the rescuers. The woman in the pink sweater begins to tremble uncontrollably. The rescue worker holds her as she collapses into his arms. Slowly, he walks her away from the scene, defeated.

This woman is waiting for her son, who lived in this building and is believed to be trapped under the rubble.

Just a few meters behind her, partially hidden among the trees, another woman—this one in a blue shirt—stands sobbing. Her hands shake as she struggles to push pills through tin foil. Overwhelmed, she falls to her knees and curls into a ball. Even though her head is tucked into her knees, her muffled sobs can still be heard.

Back at the building, a lifeless man is lifted onto a stretcher. The woman in blue is carried to a nearby bench. She lights a cigarette and stares into the possibility of a future without her lost loved one. The rescue dog sits panting at her feet.

This is just one location of many across Ukraine that were targeted in the latest Russian barrage. This is not a military target. It is a residential apartment building.

“It was a direct hit”

“A ballistic missile struck a 9-story residential building,” said the Ukrainian Internal Affairs Minister, Ihor Klymenko. “One section of the building was completely destroyed—all the way down to the basement level. It was a direct hit.” Klymenko, who arrived at this site of the Russian attack, said that as of morning, in the capital alone, the rescuers were working at 27 different locations.

An older man is standing near the small shop, waiting for his coffee. Tonight, he lost his home. “There was a very loud, intense whistling sound. That’s when I knew—that was it”. He and his wife were in their apartment. “My wife was near the bathroom,” he says. “I was thrown by the blast, along with the windows and flower pots. The house is gone.”

This particular bomb site in Kyiv has quickly transformed into a small city: tents have been erected offering residents assistance for relocation, window coverings, medical attention, and even hot drinks. Psychological aid providers work alongside the rescue teams.

“I have to be at work at 10 AM, but I think—I won’t go today,” said a young woman, standing near the State Emergency Service tent. She recalls the sounds she heard during the night, “It’s the sound when something flies really close to you, and you’re trying to understand how close it is—and what will happen to you.” She remembers the horrifying moment after the strike, thinking to herself, “Am I still alive… or am I just dead?”

“It’s getting closer and closer,” added one woman whose father lives in the neighboring building. “Then you start to think—what’s next?”. She arrived at the site as soon as she could. “We were hiding behind two walls because we still believe that we’re gonna evade things. We just prayed and heard a lot of explosions. One after another.”

“The war is still happening and, please, don’t believe that [just because] we still work or try to live a normal life—everything is over,” she added. “No. We just have to handle that and cope with that.”

Beside the woman is a packet of plastic window coverings provided by Ukraine’s Emergency Services. For now, her father will move to her apartment. Then, they will decide how to rebuild their lives.

People may still be under the rubble

The night before the attacks, the air raid sirens lasted approximately nine hours, leaving Kyiv residents in a prolonged state of fear. A total of 440 drones and 32 missiles were launched overnight across Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. Multiple regions came under attack, including Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, and Kyiv. As of 4:00 pm, Kyiv City Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko reported that the Russian attack on Ukraine’s capital took the lives of 10 people, with the save and rescue operation still ongoing.

The normalization of these horrors is a disturbing consequence of the escalating attacks on Ukraine’s capital. Since peace talks began, the number of drones being launched into Ukraine has increased dramatically. In early June, a record 499 drones were launched into the country in a single night. The voices of Kyiv’s residents are essential to telling the story beyond the numbers, revealing the human cost of Russia’s strikes on civilians.

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