Russian drone strike on Dnipro destroys house of local journalist

Russia's mass drone strike on Dnipro city on the night of April 16 nearly completely destroyed the home of Iryna Dmytrieva, a journalist with the local TV channel D-1. Miraculously, the journalist and her relatives were unharmed, Iryna Dmytrieva reports to Kateryna Lysiuk, the Institute of Mass Information representative in Dnipropetrovska oblast.

Iryna, her two sons (6 and 11 years old) and her mother-in-law were at home during the mass strike.

“The air raid alert sounded. We, like (let’s be honest) most Ukrainians, no longer react to it. The children were already asleep when the alert went off. But when I heard the first explosions, I woke them up, and all four of us went into the hallway, where we had two walls. I don’t know where exactly the Shahed fell down: between the houses or directly on top of the house. We heard a loud noise, then a bright flash, an explosion, fire, glass, debris…” recalls Iryna Dmytrieva.

The family's belongings scattered and broken. Photo by Oleh Dmytriev, collage by Kateryna Lysiuk

After the 'hit', fires broke out in several private homes, including Iryna’s.

“There was debris everywhere, broken glass, everything was in smoke, it was literally impossible to breathe because of the smoke. We managed to move from one smoke-filled hallway to another, but we couldn’t get out of the burning house because the air combat was still ongoing. All this time, I was very afraid that the gas would explode,” says the media worker.

When it got a little quieter and the family finally managed to get out of the house, Iryna called an ambulance and neighbors took the family to their basement.

“As we were leaving the house, everything was on fire, people were screaming; a woman died in a neighboring house, as it turned out later... And we were standing in the middle of all this barefoot, wearing only our pajamas. When we ran to the neighbors' basement, my eldest son was running next to me, my youngest was in my arms: once I picked him up from the bed, I didn't let him go, I held him in my arms through the entire attack... I was trying to stay composed so as not to scare the children. Of course, we were most worried for them, not for ourselves,” she said.

Iryna's face was cut by flying debris. After the ambulance arrived and she was examined (the doctors said that everyone only had minor cuts), the family went to stay with their friends.

The morning after the drone strike. The family's ruined house. Photo by Oleh Dmytriev, collage by Kateryna Lysiuk

Iryna says that almost nothing inside the house survived. The building itself can not be restored, the journalist added.

“The boiler is badly damaged by debris, same with the fridge, the furniture is gone. Miraculously, the documents survived, we dug them out and took them… And the house… This house is a family nest, my husband’s great-grandfather built it himself. Several generations of his family lived in it, I myself lived in it for 15 years… And now our house has no windows, no roof and no second floor, the blast wave blew away the armored door, the walls are crooked… It can not be repaired now, only demolished,” says Iryna Dmytrieva.

The aftermath of the Russian strike. Photo by Oleh Dmytriev, collage by Kateryna Lysiuk

The family is currently staying at their friends' home. The journalist plans to take the children away from the city and to have a full medical check.

“I think it's a concussion, my head keeps aching, everything seems normal on the outside, but what's going on inside the body, how the shock wave went through, needs to be checked. Because the blast was of terrible force... And I would like to call on others to learn from my example: don't ignore the air raid sirens, take cover! Because our enemy is insidious, and we only have one life!” said the journalist.