Russian drones are attacking around the clock, and they are now harder to intercept. There are no shelters near the capital Kiev, people are exhausted by the constant attacks and killings. "It's hell here", one woman tells ARD.
Alyona Tkachenko stands in front of her house at the end of a very exhausting day, in which she searched the ruins of the company warehouse for items that could still be used. Russian missiles hit the industrial zone in Velika Oleksandrivka on the outskirts of Kiev.
"The first missile crashed into the neighboring warehouse at six thirty", the woman says. "The next one hit the warehouse of the confectionery chain "Roshen", as well as several trucks." Alyona admits that the warehouse of her company - a Ukrainian toy company - was not among the targets at all, writes ARD in a report from Kiev.
"It was as if my own house had burned down"
However, her company was also affected. Alyona tearfully recounts the attack: "This company was like my own child to me, it was my life. After this attack, it seemed to me that my own house had burned down," the German public media quoted her as saying.
While an ARD reporter was talking to her, a drone flew just a few hundred meters away and hit the nearby railway line. Everyone threw themselves to the ground to protect themselves from the blast wave. Fortunately, this time there were no casualties. This scene is indicative of what the residents of the area around the Ukrainian capital are subjected to: an air raid siren sounds more than ten times a day, and drones strike even at night.
This is also confirmed by Lyubov Ponomarenko, Alyona's neighbor: “Until recently, we were bombed mostly at night. At least you could go to work normally and do your job during the day. Now the airstrikes are around the clock“.
Russian drones - now with jet engines
Although in the suburbs of Kiev, Russian strikes are mainly aimed at warehouses and other logistics facilities, the danger to the civilian population is real. For example, for children going to school, Lyubov tells ARD.
The situation in Ukraine has also worsened due to the fact that Russia has again modernized its attack drones: many of them are now equipped with jet engines. This allows them to reach speeds of up to 600 kilometers per hour and is therefore more difficult to intercept, ARD explains.
Lyubov tries to protect herself from this danger as much as she can - she has turned the basement of her home into an improvised shelter. “When the grandchildren are with us and they hear drones, we take pillows and go there”, she explains. And as she speaks, Ukrainian air defenses can be heard firing at Russian drones.
A 14-year-old girl also died
Yulia Makeyenko survived a deadly airstrike in close proximity. But the target hit was not public infrastructure, but a residential building. “14-year-old Karina died here a few days ago”, says Yulia. It was Saturday morning, the child's parents were sitting outside, and the girl was still sleeping. She found herself in the epicenter of the attack. “She burned alive”, says the neighbor with pain. Makeyenko was simply lucky, because her house is only a few dozen meters away, but she was not hit.
Local residents are worried about their safety, as new warehouses are being built in close proximity to residential areas. "These are dangerous sites, something can happen there at any time," Makeyenko explained to ARD.
Safety is not only her top priority. That's why the woman signed a petition demanding that the new warehouses be built far outside populated areas. She also accuses the municipality of not providing sufficient protection for residents.
"Russia is the embodiment of evil"
"More shelters could have been built over the past five years. Now, when I hear the air raid siren, I panic. At night, I often go to the school's shelter. However, this is not a completely safe place. The metro offers real protection. But that is only in Kiev and Kharkiv," Makeyenko said.
There was a temporary lull in the news about the visit of American negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Kiev a few days ago. "We all knew that once the Americans leave, all hell will break loose. The world must understand - Russia is a terrible neighbor. It is the embodiment of evil," Yulia Makeyenko said in the ARD report.