{"id":293342,"date":"2025-04-29T15:11:12","date_gmt":"2025-04-29T15:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/29\/a-russian-missile-blew-apart-these-kyiv-apartments-and-a-decades-old-community\/"},"modified":"2025-04-29T15:11:12","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T15:11:12","slug":"a-russian-missile-blew-apart-these-kyiv-apartments-and-a-decades-old-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/29\/a-russian-missile-blew-apart-these-kyiv-apartments-and-a-decades-old-community\/","title":{"rendered":"A Russian Missile Blew Apart These Kyiv Apartments, and a Decades-Old Community"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/04\/29\/multimedia\/29ukraine-promo\/29ukraine-1-bltz-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"A Russian Missile Blew Apart These Kyiv Apartments, and a Decades-Old Community\" title=\"A Russian Missile Blew Apart These Kyiv Apartments, and a Decades-Old Community\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Oleksandr Polishchuk knows suffering more than most.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He lost friends after joining the Ukrainian Army in 2015 when Russia invaded eastern Ukraine. He lost his first wife to the pandemic. In 2022, shortly after the Russians launched their full-scale invasion, he was captured and lost his freedom for 100 days. As a prisoner of war in the damp, dark basement of a makeshift prison in a former shoe factory, he lost part of his eyesight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But Mr. Polishchuk also knows how to cope. He remarried and had a daughter. He went to work at a recycling center. When air-raid sirens woke the family early Thursday morning, Mr. Polishchuk threw on his robe, wrapped his 2-year-old in a blanket and ran for the basement. He had done this almost every night of her life, after every siren.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">This time, he never made it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/04\/24\/world\/europe\/ukraine-kyiv-russia-attack.html\" title=\"\">missile<\/a> hit before Mr. Polishchuk could get there, leaving him clutching his toddler in a pile of rubble, both alive. The weapon, which Ukrainian authorities say was manufactured by <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/kyivindependent.com\/north-korean-missile-used-in-russias-kyiv-attack-contained-us-components-zelensky-says\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">North Korea<\/a>, had slammed into the balcony where, just days before, the family was grilling marinated pork cutlets to celebrate the 44th birthday of Mr. Polishchuk\u2019s wife, Anna Polishchuk.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The explosion killed 13 people and injured almost 90, the deadliest attack in the capital, Kyiv, since last summer. For this article, The New York Times talked to more than a dozen family members, neighbors and friends of the victims, a tight-knit, decades-old community now blown apart.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The building was constructed during World War II, and the people who lived there were as much family as neighbors. Its residents were given their apartments during Soviet times. Most of them stayed for decades. Children grew up and left and came back. Elders died. Other relatives moved in.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThis building was born because of the war, and another war destroyed it,\u201d said Oleksiy Kasian, 47, a close friend of Mr. Polishchuk\u2019s who also grew up in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For President Trump, this attack stood out more than others. Coming at a crucial time in negotiations to end the war, Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social that the Russian strikes were \u201cnot necessary, and very bad timing.\u201d He rebuked President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, a man he has more often praised as a strong leader, writing, \u201cVladimir, STOP!\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">After the missile strike, Sergey V. Lavrov, the foreign minister of Russia, said Moscow targeted only \u201csites which are used by the military.\u201d Russian officials have made similar comments after strikes hit a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/07\/08\/world\/europe\/russia-ukraine-missile-strikes-childrens-hospital.html\" title=\"\">children\u2019s hospital<\/a> in Kyiv, a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/04\/09\/world\/europe\/ukraine-kryvyi-ri-attack.html\" title=\"\">playground<\/a> in Kryvyi Rih and an <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/kyivindependent.com\/russias-attack-on-sumy-injures-13-including-4-children\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">orphanage<\/a> in Sumy. More than 13,000 <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/ukraine.ohchr.org\/sites\/default\/files\/2025-04\/Ukraine%20-%20protection%20of%20civilians%20in%20armed%20conflict%20%28March%202025%29_ENG.pdf\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Ukrainian<\/a> <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/ukraine.ohchr.org\/en\/Sustained-large-scale-attacks-by-Russian-armed-forces-kill-and-injure-civilians-across-Ukraine-in-April\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">civilians<\/a> have been killed in the war.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">There were no outward signs that Mr. Polishchuck\u2019s building was being used by Ukraine\u2019s military. It was a low-slung, crowded building painted in a cheery yellow. A smiley face and the word \u201csmele\u201d (a misspelling of \u201csmile\u201d) were graffitied near one of the front doors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">During Soviet rule, the state parceled out the building\u2019s 12 apartments to people who worked in the nearby Antonov aircraft plant, a perk of Communist times. Mr. Polishchuk\u2019s parents worked at the factory. They got Apt. 10.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Families often wanted to leave buildings like these, referred to as \u201cbarracks\u201d or \u201cthe two-story buildings,\u201d and into nicer ones. When the Antonov company built taller buildings nearby, the waiting list filled up fast.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">After the nuclear accident in Chernobyl, Ukraine, in 1986, the new apartments went to people affected by the disaster and to workers who helped with the cleanup. By the time the Soviet Union fell apart and Ukraine declared independence in 1991, the families at the \u201cbarracks\u201d were dug in.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Polishchuk lived in the building for nearly all of his 46 years. His apartment had just three rooms. He, Anna and their daughter, Oleksandra, shared one, sometimes joined by Anna\u2019s 19-year-old daughter. Relatives stayed in the other rooms.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Friends in other apartments also lived with their extended families. At least two residents were in the military. Oleksandr Maisiura, a border guard who had worked hard to get Mr. Polishchuk out of captivity, had just returned from the front lines because he needed a heart operation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Oleh Hudya, a soldier injured on the front lines three months earlier, lived on the first floor with his wife, their 17-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter. There was also a doctor and his two adult children, 19 and 21. A 27-year-old aesthetician and her husband. A 33-year-old locksmith. An 84-year-old pensioner, who lived with her cat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The missile hit after 1 a.m. Thursday. Mr. Polishchuk had made it to the doorway of his apartment, which had a thick, load-bearing wall. As the building collapsed around him, the doorway and the falling wooden beams formed a kind of shelter protecting him and Oleksandra from the worst of the rubble. He huddled over her, trying to shield her from the dust.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWhen the dust cleared a bit, I turned to my left \u2014 and there was nothing there, just a huge crater,\u201d Mr. Polishchuk later said. He added: \u201cIt was utterly dark, and I could only see the sky and the stars. I saw the neighboring high-rise building. At that moment, so many people were crying for help from the windows. It was terrifying \u2014 people shouted for help everywhere, begging to be rescued. It overwhelmed me even more, although I\u2019m generally not afraid of such things.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Polishchuk\u2019s neighbors spotted him. Olena Khirkovska, 57, an accountant who had planted petunias the day before, and her husband, Ihor Khirkovsky, ran over. Mr. Khirkovsky took the toddler in his arms, while Mr. Polishchuk climbed out of the rubble.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Covered in dust and wearing only his robe, Mr. Polishchuk then cradled Oleksandra and walked the 10 minutes to the nearest subway station to hide in the shelter in case of more missiles. He had no shoes. Oleksandra wore only a diaper. Hours later, Mr. Kasian, Mr. Polishchuk\u2019s friend, found him and his daughter in the subway still covered in dust.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Later Thursday, they would learn that Anna Polishchuk had died in the strike. So had Mr. Hudya, the injured soldier; his wife and their 17-year-old son; Mr. Maisiura, the border guard; the doctor\u2019s two children; the locksmith; the aesthetician; and the pensioner. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-8\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIn this building, everyone knew each other,\u201d Mr. Polishchuk said. \u201cIt feels like I lost my whole extended family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Kasian and his wife are now helping care for Oleksandra. They are raising money to buy the basics, like diapers and baby food. Mr. Polishchuk is sleeping in a bunk at the aluminum-recycling plant where he works. He said he will start over again \u2014 find a new home, and then care for Oleksandra on his own.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On Saturday afternoon, Halyna Sosiura, 69, wearing a white bathrobe and tan loafers, walked over to the pile of rubble and sobbed, staring at what was gone. She and Ms. Polishchuk had been friends. They held vigil together when Mr. Polishchuk was captured by the Russians.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cOh, my God, she was there, she was there,\u201d said Ms. Sosiura, tears streaming down her face. \u201cOh, my God, and he survived captivity, and we prayed together for him. And now he survived with the child, but she\u2019s gone. How can one survive here? How can anyone survive?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-9\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Nataliia Novosolova<!-- --> contributed reporting from Kyiv.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/04\/29\/world\/europe\/kyiv-russia-missile-strike.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Oleksandr Polishchuk knows suffering more than most. He lost friends after joining the Ukrainian Army in 2015 when Russia invaded eastern Ukraine. He lost his first wife to the pandemic. In 2022, shortly after the Russians launched their full-scale invasion, he was captured and lost his freedom for 100 days. As a prisoner of war [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":293343,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/04\/29\/multimedia\/29ukraine-promo\/29ukraine-1-bltz-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[56917,22572,969,2356,9145,168195,3241,170073,1461,164579],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293342"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=293342"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293342\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":293344,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293342\/revisions\/293344"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}