Anastasiya Baydachenko, CEO of IAB Ukraine, continues to share her firsthand experiences of navigating life and the digital advertising industry in Ukraine during wartime. This week, we have an update on the situation on the ground. As always, our thoughts are with our colleagues and the people of Ukraine.
On the 94th day after Donald Trump promised to end the war in 24 hours, Kyiv and several other cities in Ukraine were once again subjected to a massive attack.
215 air targets were launched by the aggressor, of which 112 were shot down, 68 drones were lost in location. This means 35 weapons reached their targets. The price is too high. Since the targets were civilian infrastructure, in particular, one ballistic missile directly hit a residential building, more than 75 people were injured in Kyiv alone, at least 8 people died, including 2 children from the same family.
The police and emergency services were the first to arrive. They are helping people to get out. People in pajamas, carrying pets, many injured. This house is completely destroyed and cannot be restored. In total, about 12 houses were damaged and 1 metro station, which has not yet been fully repaired after the previous attack, a private university and the central registry office. Debris from the downed targets damaged cars, non-residential buildings and a park area, several fires on the roofs of houses were extinguished.
Since the strike and until now, while emergency workers are clearing the rubble, here and there mobile phones are ringing from under the rubble. These are relatives and friends trying to contact those who lived in the completely destroyed house.
In the morning, a teacher and children came, whose classmate cannot be contacted. Every time someone is found, the children hope to see their classmate alive.
A soldier who returned from the front line lost his wife today, their 1.5-year-old daughter survived. Parents stand in tears near the fence of the crime scene, vainly calling their daughter.
From time to time, they hold a minute of silence. Fortunately, someone spoke up. There are still people under the rubble, 10 people cannot be reached. At 9 am, one man was pulled alive from the ruins of the house.
More than 30 people were hospitalised, including children. Dry statistics.
Each private tragedy of a family near that house is a painful reminder that the enemy is close. And the enemy is cynical and insidious. The enemy is targeting homes, energy infrastructure, hospitals, dams and food warehouses. And that we are being forced to come to an agreement with the enemy. But after 400 years of struggle, we know that this is impossible. Any agreement will be despised, turned into a blank piece of paper, every time the aggressor gathers strength for a new attack. There may be an illusion that we did not want peace badly enough, that we did not negotiate well, that we sent unprofessional people to the negotiations, or they were dressed in the wrong suits.
No, you simply cannot negotiate with this enemy. No one, ever.
And if it's hard to believe us Ukrainians, try to realise how quickly a modern missile would reach the western coast of Europe.
