The basement in the house where an entire family died was closed: what witnesses of the attack on Kharkiv say

On the morning of August 18, the Russians shelled Kharkiv. 5 Russian drones hit a high-rise building in the Industrial district of the city at once. People died under the rubble.

Among the victims of the Russian attack on Kharkiv is a whole family with two children – a one and a half year old and a 16 year old son.

Oksana Peresada, a neighbor of the deceased family, said that there was no shelter in the house hit by the Russians. The multi-storey building has a basement, but it was closed at the time of the attack. According to the woman, people were forced to hide under the stairs. She says that some of them ran to the landing with her, hoping that the Russians would not attack there.

Bohdan Gladkikh, director of the city’s emergency department, said that the basement in the damaged house is not registered as the simplest shelter.

This basement is not an official shelter, because it is not included in the register of civil defense facilities.

He emphasized that the responsibility for access to such basements during air raids lies with the balance holders of the houses – that is, the organizations or enterprises that service these houses. They decide for themselves whether to consider the basement as a shelter, and are obliged to ensure free access to it in times of danger, if it is on their balance sheet.

On August 18, at around 5:00, 5 Russian drones hit an apartment building in the Industrial District of Kharkiv. The attack resulted in partial destruction of the building – the interfloor ceilings collapsed.

As of 17:00, 7 people were killed and more than 20 were injured.

According to preliminary data, the Russians used a Geran-2 type UAV for attacks on the city.