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Night of terror in Odesa as Russia strikes civilian areas
On July 22, Russian shelling in Odesa, Ukraine destroyed a gym and a parking lot. Hundreds of people also lost their windows. The damage is currently being assessed, and residents are recounting their experiences from that night.
Novyny.LIVE journalists report from the scene.
Burned cars
Nadiia lives on the third floor of a building next to the parking lot where her car was parked. She bought it only four months ago. Nadiia admits that the property damage is considerable, but she is grateful that there were no casualties.
"I woke up when I heard a Shahed flying right at me. I jumped into the bathroom, and then I heard a powerful explosion. I opened the window and looked out; everything was on fire. When I went outside, I saw my car burning. There was nothing left of it," Nadiia says.
Children are getting used to the shellings
Viktoria also lost her car that night. She was home with her family when the attack occurred. The woman said the children were scared, but they had almost become accustomed to the alarms and shelling.
"My son didn't cry much. He was ready to go to the basement. He knows there's a war going on. He just kept asking, 'Is it a bomb? Is it a bomb?' I have a 5-year-old son and an 11-year-old daughter. She was scared too. But we all grabbed our things and ran," says Viktoriia.
More than 30 burned cars
The attack destroyed more than 30 cars in the parking lot. The blast wave shattered more than 125 windows in nearby buildings. Utility workers are cleaning up the aftermath of the shelling.
"We have already started cleaning up. The police recorded the destroyed cars. Now, we are covering the broken windows with film or chipboard," said Maryna Lozenko, head of the Kyivskyi district administration of Odesa city.
Destroyed gym
Not a single window in Ivan's gym was left intact. The blast wave also deformed the floor. No one was in the room at night during the shelling, but Ivan's cat spent the night there. Fortunately, the cat is fine now.
"My cat spent the night here. We took him out at three in the morning because everything was covered in smoke. Thank God he is alive. The important thing is that no one was injured, and we can rebuild the rest," says Ivan.
