The city of Karkiv in eastern Ukraine has been under Russian drone attack for about two hours, with witnesses reporting about 20 explosions within the city.
According to city mayor Ikhor Telekov, the fourth time since the Russian invasion occurred, fires have been struck in four districts in one of the largest districts in Barabashovo market.
Authorities say 90 stores in the market have been destroyed.
In the western part of the city, multiple-storey residential buildings have been damaged, and one residents say drone strikes have occurred in several waves.
“Around 4:20am, the first explosion happened, and then they kept coming one after another. After the 10th, we stopped counting,” Natalia Mishkova said.
“My front door was blown away, not just the balcony and windows. My car is also damaged.”
The four drones, along with Ole Snyevbov, the head of the region’s military regime, also stormed a hotel-restaurant complex north of the city, which resulted in four suffering from acute stress.
Attack on Smee
Meanwhile, residents of Bilopiria in the nearby Smee area began evacuation on Tuesday amidst the intensified Russian attacks.
Local governments, including Mayor Yuri Zarco, reported that security situation in the city has deteriorated in recent years, prompting new requests for evacuation.
“Even those who didn’t want to leave early or left and come back, even those who still have a place to return, they’re evacuated again because the situation is getting worse,” Zarco said.
“Most of the people who have their own transport have already left themselves. But for those who have no way to leave – especially the bridge has been destroyed and there is no public transport. They are completely dependent on the current situation.
Many residents, including seniors and those with limited mobility, are left with the help of emergency services and the Ukrainian Red Cross team.
Volodymuli Moskarenko, commander of the Ukrainian Red Cross’s rapid response unit, said the two ambulances are being used due to limited mobility.
“We load them up and they head straight to Smee. More off-road capable vehicles go to places where the roads are really bad. They’re hard to access.
Forced evacuation for children
Over the past three days, more than 30 children have been evacuated from Shahoob village in the Donetsk region, according to local junta principal Serei Sazko.
On May 2, authorities announced forced evacuation for families with minors in both Shahob and Torretke due to Russian artillery fire.
“We have already been forced to evacuate two administrative boroughs, and at that point the security situation has been much better. Now people are looking at their own situation,” explained Sazhko.
“We had 54 children in Shahoob. For now, there are 23 remaining. I think we’ve evacuated all of our children from here in two or three days. Tretzke has 22 children, which means we’ll need to evacuate all of our children first.
The family is transported safely in Voloshyne, in the Zhytomyr area, where volunteers are hosted.
