Russian drone strike on Dnipro damages homes of three media professionals

Russia's mass drone strikes on Dnipro city on March 26 and 28 damaged the homes of three local media workers, reports Kateryna Lysiuk, the Institute of Mass Information representative in Dnipropetrovska oblast.

Namely, the apartment of Dnipro photojournalist Serhiy Diveyev was affected. The blast wave broke all the windows and cracked the tiles. The media worker and his pets were unharmed.

"I was home alone, went to bed early. My cat woke me up. When I woke, I saw the air raid alert notification and went into the corridor with my pets," recalls Serhiy Diveyev.

The photojournalist says that the scotch tape securely stuck to the windows saved him from the glass shards.

The house of Dnipro sports journalist Dmytro Moskalenko was damaged in another mass drone attack on the city during the day on March 28, which he reported in a Facebook post.

In a comment to IMI representative Kateryna Lysiuk, the journalist added that he and his family were at home at the time of the strike. According to Dmytro, they have one windowless room, so they went there upon hearing the first explosions.

"We often hear explosions. But during this attack there were two very loud ones. Our dog was scared the most. He is seven years old, Lancelot Lyovych (the dog's nickname. – Ed.)," said Dmytro Moskalenko.

The house of Dnipro sports journalist Dmytro Moskalenko was damaged in another mass drone attack on the city. Photos by Dmytro Moskalenko, collage by Kateryna Lysiuk

Dmytro Moskalenko's house is over a hundred years old: it was built in 1908. Half of the house was bought in 1946 by the journalist's great-grandfather, Prokip Yakymenko. He had been a member of the Katerynoslav Prosvita since 1913 and was friends with the Ukrainian historian, archaeologist, and ethnographer Dmytro Yavornytsky.

"We replaced two of the old wooden windows with plastic ones, two more old stained glass ones remained. Those and a small window above the front door collapsed from the blast wave. We actually were already thinking about replacing them, but now we will have to do it," said Dmytro Moskalenko.

The same Russian strike also badly damaged the house where Nashe Misto journalist Andriy Fedchenko lives. At the time of the attack, he and his civil wife were out. In a comment to the IMI representative, he said that he learned about the missile hitting nearby from an acquaintance who called and asked if they were okay.

"He said that there had been a 'hit' near our house. I was shocked, I couldn't believe it until the last second, I have lived in this apartment for 10 years, about four of those with my wife. I called a neighbor, she confirmed that a missile 'hit' between our house and the one next to it. We quickly called a taxi and went home," said Andriy Fedchenko.

According to him, when they arrived, they saw a large-scale fire: their house and the neighboring one were burning.

"The rescuers did not let us near the house due to a gas explosion hazard, since everyone has gas heaters. One neighbor (from our house) was taken away by an ambulance with severe burns, another (from the neighboring house) was, too, both of his hands were torn off. Everything around was on fire," the journalist recalls.

Andriy Fedchenko's house after a Russian strike. Photos by Andriy Fedchenko, collage by Kateryna Lysiuk

The couple spent the next night at a nearby friend's house.

"In the morning, we were allowed to enter the place. There were three houses on our land plot: our three-apartment house and two two-apartment ones. One of the two-apartment houses is simply gone now: only pieces of concrete and brick walls remain. As for our house, one neighbor's apartment is no longer there, our apartment needs major repairs (roof, walls, ceiling, windows and doors), the apartment of other neighbors is more or less intact, but also needs repairs," Andriy says.

Of the couple's belongings, some furniture and clothes survived, but everything is soaked with char.

"We are now staying with a friend, we have no other options at the moment. My closest relatives are my mother and aunt, they are refugees from Dobropillya, Donetsk oblast. They live in a dormitory themselves, sharing a small room. So for now, we will be migrating between friends and acquaintances," says Andriy Fedchenko.

The burned down ceiling and destroyed belongings. Photos by Andriy Fedchenko, collage by Kateryna Lysiuk

As reported earlier, the apartment of Pershyi Kryvorizkyi journalist Olena Smolina was damaged in the missile strike on Kryvyi Rih on March 29.