The granddaughter’s phone call, tears and the words: “Grandma, the house was hit!”. According to an AFP report, Tetyana Denysenko’s morning turned into a nightmare after a wave of Russian attacks on Kyiv destroyed several houses in a residential area.

“My granddaughter told me: Grandma, the house is on fire, she was hit,” cried a 62-year-old woman in front of a pile of rubble consisting of cables, wooden boards and bricks.

“Mom is passed out,” a young woman tells her over the phone.

At the time of Tetyana’s arrival in the Bortnychy neighborhood, six houses were destroyed. Her daughter was taken to the emergency room for emergency surgery.

“But, thank God, the children are alive! Thank God, my niece only has a wound on her leg…” she added to AFP.

According to several eyewitnesses, the explosion on Yatsenko Street in this area in the southeast of Kyiv was probably caused by falling fragments of a rocket.

59-year-old resident Georgy Yatsenko was in the basement of his house with his three grandchildren when the Russians attacked.

The explosion blew out a window in his house. When he came out of hiding, what he saw was apocalyptic: the surrounding houses were completely destroyed, and rescuers were already busy extinguishing the flames and searching for possible victims.

“The war continues, we do what we have to survive, the main thing is that people stay alive,” says George simply.

According to the Ukrainian military, air defense systems shot down all 16 missiles aimed at the capital Kyiv.

Homeless and in the cold

Despite these new Russian strikes, there was no question of changing his routine for Sergey, a resident of the area who did not want to give his last name. He walked his dog and ate breakfast in silence as anti-aircraft sirens rang out in the night.

Only after hearing that there had been several explosions in the capital, he resigned himself to hiding.

A few minutes later, he and his wife were approaching the door of their home when the explosion occurred around 9:00 a.m. (7:00 GMT).

“I heard a blow, very loud. Then there was a second explosion, not as strong,” the 59-year-old man told AFP. “I went outside and saw that the windows of the house were broken and the house opposite was destroyed.”

Since then, Serhiy and his neighbors have been fixing what can be fixed every day, even though it’s cold and the daily electricity bill is already there.

By noon, 40 percent of Kyiv residents were still without power due to strikes on infrastructure outside the city.

Two days before the New Year, Giorgiy Yatsenko plans to cover the windows with polyethylene films to protect himself from the cold in his house, where he lives with nine family members.

For those whose homes are completely destroyed, it is impossible to imagine spending the holidays at home. Tetyana Denysenko burst into tears in front of her daughter’s house. The grandmother does not know where the small family will find shelter.

“I don’t know…” she cried. “I do not know”.