Resident of building on Lobanovsky Street in Kyiv recalls how his family survived missile strike
Kostyantyn Lishchuk, the owner of an apartment at 6a Lobanovsky Avenue, struck by a Russian missile in the first days of the full-scale invasion, told about the events of the day when his home was destroyed by the enemy.
Like many Ukrainians, Kostyantyn Lishchuk did not believe a full-scale war could break out. At the time the Russian missile struck, he, his wife and daughter were at home, going about their business.
“My child (asked) me: ‘Dad, dad, we won't get hit by a missile?’ And I said, ‘No, Vira, we won't,’ But it so happened that we got to encounter this type of high-precision weapon, which strikes only on military targets," the owner of the destroyed apartment said.
Lishchuk said that they had bought the apartment so that their daughter would have a separate room. For two years, they were renovating the new home, and around December 2021 they moved in.
According to Lishchuk, on the eve of the incident, his wife had a sense of foreboding. The family usually slept in their bedrooms, but his wife felt anxious and forced the family to spend the night in the corridor, following the rule of "two walls" – keeping two walls between you and the exterior of the building. This rule works especially well in monolithic-frame buildings, like the structure on Lobanovsky.
In the morning, they woke up and were going about their business — Lishchuk was reading the news, his wife was preparing breakfast, the daughter was watching cartoons on a tablet, sitting in the hallway. "It was around this time that the missile struck," Lishchuk said.
Lishchuk and his wife were thrown back by the blast wave, while their daughter was covered with blankets and a mattress, which gave her additional protection.
"I remember myself, I had very clear ideas about what to do… I need to find everyone… Armageddon," Lishchuk said. A fire broke out downstairs as missile fuel ignited. According to Lishchuk, as a result of the missile strike about 80 people were injured. Their neighbors on the 18th floor had serious bone fractures. Fortunately, there were no fatalities.
Lishchuk said that after the incident, his daughter became terrified of loud noises, but now she handles them a little better. "Dad, remember you told us we wouldn't get hit by a missile? You lied to me. Don't lie to me anymore," Lishchuk says his daughter said to him.
Currently, the 15th to the 21st floors in the building are destroyed. According to preliminary estimates, it will cost $1-2 million to repair the building. Residents of the building at 6a Lobanovsky Avenue can be supported by following the link. UAH 1 million is needed to make the building safe.
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