Anna Sukoterena has to take a few deep breaths, collect herself, before she is able to carry out the task she has come to do; walk the ten meters to the bus stop and put down the flowers she has in her hands.
Tears roll down her cheeks. Her husband Vitalij Sukoteren pats her encouragingly on the shoulder.
Two red carnations are laid down.
IN MOURNING: People lay flowers, stuffed animals and light candles in the bus shelter which is directly opposite the bombed apartment block. Photo: Aage Aune/TV 2
The last time she was in contact with her friend Nathalia Shvets was at 3.40pm on Saturday afternoon – just minutes before the Russian missile hit the block of flats in Dnipro.
– They were a great family. They worked as volunteers at the animal shelter and rescued cats. They collected money for animal protection, says Anna Sukoterena to TV 2.
GRIEVING: Anna Sukoterena was in contact with her friend minutes before the Russian missile hit the block of flats in Dnipro. On Monday afternoon, she laid flowers for the victims. Photo: Aage Aune / TV 2
– Their daughter was saved. She was only in her panties and holding a stuffed animal in her hands. Now her parents are dead.
She holds both hands in front of her face.
– I can’t speak, she says and turns away.
Rescued alive
40 people have so far been confirmed dead and about 30 are missing after the Russian missile hit the residential block in the Pobeda district of Dnipro on Saturday afternoon.
Suketerena’s family friends, Nathalia and Maxim Shvets, lived on the sixth floor of the bombed apartment block.
The photo of their daughter, Anastasia Shvets, has gone viral after she was pictured sitting inside the bombed-out apartment.
“I haven’t been living but only existing since then…” Anastasia Shvets, a survivor of the Russian missile strike on an apartment building in the city of Dnipro saidhttps://t.co/32cfgyZXyI
— The New Voice of Ukraine (@NewVoiceUkraine) January 16, 2023
She held a green stuffed animal and a glittering garland in her hands as rescuers carried her out of the rubble.
INFERNO: Here, the rescue teams managed to get to Anastasia Shvets on Saturday afternoon. Coincidence meant that she survived the Russian attack. Photo: Oleksandr Techynskyi/TV 2
The 23-year-old was lying in bed in his room when it slammed. On his Instagram profile she writes that she was covered by a door when the missile hit.
– Parts of the kitchen entered the bedroom. The bathroom, the kitchen, the hallway and the food stall are no longer there, she wrote in a post on her Instagram profile late on Saturday evening.
Boyfriend killed
Anastasia was taken to hospital with minor injuries to her head and legs.
From there she wrote this:
– I have no words. I have no feelings. I feel nothing, just a big void inside.
RESCUED: Here, Anastasia Shvets is carried out of the building blocks by rescuers. Photo: Oleksandr Techynskyi/TV 2
DRAMATIC: The 23-year-old’s girlfriend was killed in September. Now her parents have been found dead in the ruins of the block of flats. Photo: Aage Aune / TV 2
In the post, Anastasia writes that she was still in mourning after her boyfriend, Vlad, was killed in the war in September 2022.
– I did not live, I only existed while trying to understand that my brave Vlad is no longer alive, she writes in the post.
On Monday, the parents were found in the ruins of the collapsed block of flats.
– I didn’t care what would happen to me, the most important thing for me was that my parents survived, but today they were pulled out of the ruins, Anastasia told Kyiv TV on Monday afternoon.
– Imprecise
Ukraine says it was a missile of the Kh-22 type that hit the block and that this is a weapon that Ukrainian air defenses cannot shoot down. The missile, which has the Nato nickname Kitchen, was developed in the 1960s for use against aircraft carriers and can be equipped with a nuclear warhead.
According to the Ukrainian Attorney General’s Office, the missile is notorious for being extremely inaccurate when fired from long range.
MOURNING: In Dnipro, the grief is great after the rocket attack that killed dozens of people. Photo: Aage Aune/TV 2
72 apartments in the large block of flats in Dnipro have been completely destroyed, while 230 have been damaged.
Deputy Governor Hennadij Korban of Dnipropetrovsk says on Telegram that 75 people were injured in the attack on Saturday, among them 14 children.
THE ATTACK: Parts of the block were completely pulverized by the violent explosion. Photo: Aage Aune / TV 2
There are also at least two children among those killed, Governor Valentyn Reznichenko told the Ukrainian News Agency Ukrainian form Monday.
