‘We Thought We Would Die’: Kyiv Residents Share How They Survived the Russian Missile Strike

Kyiv residents describe how they survived a Russian missile strike that destroyed their homes, even as negotiators in Miami work toward ending the war. Many Ukrainians continue to face daily attacks and refuse to accept Russia’s demands. Mariel Müller speaks to survivors about the moment the missile hit, the aftermath, and their hopes for peace.

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Transcript

00:00And as those negotiators meet in Miami trying to end the war, Ukrainians are still being killed on a daily basis.

00:08Many still oppose giving in to Russia's demands.

00:11Our special correspondent Mariel Muller and her team met Kiev residents who survived a missile strike on their homes.

00:207 a.m. We get a call from emergency services.

00:24A missile hit an apartment building in Kiev's Darnitsky district.

00:28Fire crews are fighting the flames, tearing through homes people were sleeping in just minutes ago.

00:34About 100 meters away on this street, a man was walking past when the missile, intercepted by Ukrainian air defenses, struck.

00:42He was killed instantly.

00:44This is where the long-range cruise missile, as we were told, hit the ground.

00:49You can still see some parts smoking there.

00:52And this is where it bounced off and hit the apartment building in the back, where it caused fire in several apartments.

00:59And this is what's left of it.

01:02They're taking it away for further inspection.

01:06Elia was asleep in his apartment when the explosion shattered his window.

01:10I saw flames right in front of me, flying fragments.

01:14Blood immediately ran down my face.

01:17He was lucky, just a minor injury.

01:20Jana tells us she and her mother live on the ninth floor and barely made it out in time.

01:25My mother is 75 years old and could barely hold on.

01:31She was already screaming for help.

01:33She started to choke and collapse.

01:36If they had have taken another minute or two, that would have been it.

01:40We would have suffocated.

01:41Like others here, she's worried about a neighbor she hasn't been able to find.

01:46He was on the seventh floor, screaming.

01:49I don't know if he was rescued.

01:52The fire was literally creeping up on him.

01:54It's very scary.

01:56We're heading up to see for ourselves, straight into the smoke that burns our lungs.

02:02Behind us is the apartment.

02:04It's still a lot of smoke, so it's really hard to breathe.

02:07This was the living room, the kitchen.

02:10Everything is completely destroyed.

02:11They extinguished the fire just a few minutes ago.

02:15It's disgusting.

02:17I'm already an old person.

02:19And I want to spend my remaining years in retirement, peacefully.

02:27The next-door neighbor, Mikola, has come to check his home.

02:30It, too, is filled with smoke.

02:32But at least it isn't damaged.

02:35There is no light.

02:37They turned it off.

02:38Do you feel safe here now?

02:40No.

02:41I'll wait until tomorrow morning.

02:43Usually the shelling starts between 3 and 5 a.m.

02:46They deprive me of my joy.

02:52Everything feels absolutely meaningless.

02:56He's been following the news from far-off places where others make decisions about his life.

03:02We were unlucky with Trump.

03:05My opinion of America has worsened in general.

03:11It's so bad.

03:12People here won't surrender.

03:15Because to whom and where?

03:18They will shoot everyone anyway.

03:20Back outside, Victoria still can't grasp what happened.

03:27Even though she sees this on the news every day, she says, it's hard to believe it struck her own home this time.

03:33There's no time for crying.

03:37I asked myself, what needs to be done?

03:39You need to run, save yourself, save the cat.

03:42Honestly, because of the shock, I don't feel anything right now.

03:47And even though the killing and destruction has entered its fourth year,

03:51giving up is simply not an option for people here.

03:54I believe we must negotiate until all of Ukraine's conditions are met.

04:07So that all the lives that were lost in this war are not in vain.

04:12Conditions shouldn't be dictated by Russia.

04:18This reflects the sentiment among many Ukrainians.

04:21If they surrender now, all those sacrifices would have been for nothing.

‘We Thought We Would Die’: Kyiv Residents Share How They Survived the Russian Missile Strike | APT

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