In pics: ‘War has reached us’ strike shocks village in southeast Ukraine
Novotavrycheske's residents say they become used to the sound of blasts and rockets flying overhead, since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, but Friday's strike was the first direct hit on the village.
Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a "special military operation" and says it is not targeting civilians.
(Text: Reuters)
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'Shock-couldn’t believe it'
The strike landed just after dawn, blasting a wide crater in a quiet cottage-lined street of Novotavrycheske village, which is around 40 km (25 miles) from the front line of fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces.
"How do I describe it? Shock - I couldn't believe it until I got here," Golovachuk said in his debris-strewn yard.
"There are no military sites here. What - is my house a strategic target? Or my neighbour's? What was there to destroy here?" he asked, as another distant explosion boomed out.
(Photograph:Reuters)
'Main thing is everyone is alive'
"Nothing like this has happened here until now," said the head of the local council Vasily Zakarlyuka. "Firstly, it's fear. Fear and horror, because the war has reached us now. Everyone was scared, people were running around and worried."
"The main thing is everyone is alive."
(Photograph:Reuters)
Shattered windows
Nobody was home at the time of the blast, because the war has already split up Golovachuk's family. His two sons are off fighting with the Ukrainian forces and his wife and 11-year-old daughter have fled to the relative safety of western Ukraine.
His wife wept when he told her about the strike by phone, he said.
The shockwave from the explosion shattered the windows of their home and flung shrapnel with enough force to pierce the metal fences of houses further down the street.
Golovachuk's parents and friends helped him salvage furniture and other belongings from the house that was strewn with broken glass and chunks of plaster and wood.
(Photograph:Reuters)
