Attack on Chasiv Yar: “Are you still alive?”

After the rocket attack on a house in Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine, rescue workers continue to search for survivors. So far 19 dead have been recovered. President Zelenskyy condemned the shelling of civilian objects.

The rescue workers in Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine are faced with horrifying scenes. A five-story house looks like a heap of rubble. Between concrete blocks and bricks, human existence lies in tatters there. The rocket impact buried belongings and their owners under the rubble.

The forces are still trying to get survivors out. A recording by the Ukrainian disaster service shows how this happens: “Are you still alive?” calls one of the rescuers. The men stop and listen: “Please say something!”

Then the rescue workers crouch around a concrete slab, behind which there is apparently still a man who is alive. They hand him a helmet so he can protect his head when getting it out. “We’re going to lift the slab now and the bricks will fall down,” shouts one. Finally, one of the emergency services pulls the man out, his legs covered in blood.

The disaster service got eight people out of the rubble. 19 people did not survive the attack. According to the disaster service, three dozen residents, including a nine-year-old boy, are still missing.

Selenskyj wants to pursue those responsible

Chasiv Yar is a small town in the north of Donetsk region, 12,000 people lived there before the war began. The place is known for its special clay, which is used for fireplace bricks. According to Ukrainian sources, there were never any military bases there. And yet Russian troops aimed missiles at the site. On apartment buildings.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made serious allegations. “It was a rocket attack. And anyone who orders such rocket attacks, anyone who uses them on our cities, on residential areas, kills deliberately,” he said.

“It’s all just cruel”

Attacks had previously also shaken the metropolis of Kharkiv. Several floors of a high-rise building were destroyed in the center. A resident told Ukrainian television:

Civil protection reported a total of three rockets on Kharkiv. In addition to attacking downtown, they struck at a school and near a warehouse.

Attack on Kharkiv: 28 wounded and three dead

Kharkiv has been in the sights of Russian troops since the outbreak of war. Hardly a week goes by without shelling. Nothing remains of the flair of a lively student town. Fear now characterizes everyday life in the predominantly Russian-speaking region. The governor of the region, Oleg Sinegubov, once again reported artillery fire: 28 people were injured and three dead in Kharkiv.

“Since the beginning of this invasion, Ukrainian prosecutors have been doing everything to document the occupiers’ crimes and collect evidence,” said Zelenskyy. Partners from several countries have been brought in. “Russian terror has long since crossed every border, so that the civilized world has realized that it is a question of global security.”

Prosecuting these cases is likely to be extremely difficult. Many trials are being held in absentia, said Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova. However, this is a question of justice. According to the Attorney General’s Office, it receives 200 to 300 reports of war crimes every day. It is now being determined in more than 21,000 cases.