“We heard people screaming”: eyewitnesses told about the hit of the “Shahed” in the parking lot in Sumy

On the night of February 10, a Russian drone hit a parking lot in Sumy. There are injuries as a result of the attack. It is also known about about two dozen burned and damaged cars, more than three hundred broken windows in five high-rise buildings and a commercial building.

As of 14:30 on February 10, two injured women are known. One is undergoing outpatient treatment, the other is in a hospital, the regional military administration reported. “The State Emergency Service provided assistance to 5 people, 13 received psychological support,” the regional military administration noted.

On the morning of February 10, local residents were cleaning up glass and construction debris in their homes, and car owners were recording the damage. Among them is Olga Tomashevska.

A woman moved to Sumy from Kryvyi Rih a few days ago.

“I moved into this apartment a week ago and I really always parked my car somewhere else, but it happened. It was very noisy. But this is property. The main thing is that everyone is alive. I called “102”, filed it as damage, I’m going to go to school now, they opened a headquarters there, I think they also need to write a statement there and that’s basically it. I’ll walk.”

At the time of the impact, Olga and her husband were at home.

“We ran out into the corridor and that’s it. Then we heard people screaming, saw something burning outside. The husband went out to see what was there. The windows on the balcony flew out, but basically the apartment itself is intact,” shared Olga.

Sumy resident Mykola Tsyganenko also lives in one of the damaged high-rise buildings. His apartment is located on the 13th floor.

“We were already asleep, there was a bang and everything. Glass flew. The balcony glass flew out, the loggias flew out completely, the frames were broken, the plastic in the hall, the section was broken out. They swept everything for half the night, raked it. They covered it with film and tape, and now we are going there. I was not scared, I am 77 years old. I am not afraid of anything anymore,” said Mr. Mykola.

The apartment of Ms. Svitlana’s niece was also damaged. The woman is abroad with her family. She called her aunt after the explosion.

“They have video surveillance and they called us that the apartment was on fire. It turned out that it was not on fire. All the windows were completely broken, everything was broken. First of all, we need to close the windows so that the batteries do not freeze, and then we will decide what to do next.”

The apartment of Svitlana Rykun, a resident of Sumy, survived, but, according to her, the woman is still recovering:

“We only managed to jump out of the explosion. They didn’t even jump out into the corridor, the doors opened with a blast wave. Panic, fear. We are coming to our senses from all this disaster.”

In the morning, representatives of the State Emergency Service began to carry out high-altitude work with the help of special equipment, said Oleg Strelka, spokesman for the State Emergency Service:

“There is a lot of broken glass, a lot of window frames, balcony frames. Many emergency structures, so they need to be dismantled in order to then calmly sew up and temporarily restore the windows.”

According to him, a fire broke out after the drone hit the parking lot:

“Six cars were burning at once, the gas system exploded. The fire spread quickly. But it took us about 40 minutes to eliminate the fire. In parallel, our other specialists went around all the apartments and managed to evacuate a total of 65 citizens. Then, after 12 o’clock at night, one woman turned to doctors for help.”

According to Stanislav Polyakov, Deputy Mayor of Sumy, the gas supply to the house next to the parking lot was restored at night, and water and electricity are available in the residents’ apartments.

Municipal services and volunteers are also working on the site. Residents are being given OSB sheets and window film. A shelter was set up overnight, where people can warm up, drink tea, and talk to a psychologist.

An operational headquarters is operating in comprehensive school No. 29, where they are accepting applications from people about damaged property. A meeting with residents is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. on February 11.

According to Deputy Mayor Stanislav Polyakov, six cars burned down and about 20 were damaged as a result of the “shaheed” hitting the parking lot. More than three hundred windows in five high-rise buildings, private residential buildings, and a commercial building were also broken.