Ukraine War Diaries: Dnipro attack devastates the soul of a nation

For more than two hours last week, Seva Koshel tried to calm his sister down after a Russian missile attack took place just meters from their home.

Seva, a Kyiv-based company executive-turned-military executive, is originally from the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro.

His sister was at her home in Dnipro on January 14 when a Russian ballistic missile was aimed at a block of flats nearby.

The attack killed 45 people and injured dozens when part of the apartment block collapsed.

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In the latest episode of the Sky News Ukraine War Diaries podcast, an emotional Seva reflects on the conversation he had with his sister after the attack that left Ukraine reeling.

“Dnipro is the city of my birth and my sister lives about 300 meters from where the rocket hit the building,” explains the 41-year-old, who took up journaling for Sky News shortly after the Russian invasion began his phone started.

“It was very difficult to talk to my sister like that [knows] some people who live in this building. Not exactly where a rocket was, though [in] the same building.

“She [had] seeing a lot of dead bodies for the first time in her life. And of course it is very difficult [for her] accept.”

Image: Ukraine war diarist Seva with his sister Anna, who lives in the Dnipro district under Russian missile attack

In order to overcome the existing Ukrainian air defense systems, Russia has started attacking the country with ballistic missiles.

For months, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been asking Western allies for more advanced weapons that would help launch the missiles.

The US has agreed to supply the powerful Patriot air defense systems that could help thwart such an attack. But it has yet to be implemented locally.

Image: 45 people were killed in the January 14 attack on a block of flats in Dnipro

“[The attack on Dnipro] hit everyone very, very hard, just because everyone can identify with it, because such buildings are very common throughout Ukraine,” explains Oksana Koshel, Seva’s wife, who also appears in the latest episode.

“The pictures and videos from this place just hit that very sensitive chord in everyone’s soul because you understand that [could] be next, and the people you love, your family, [could] are in a similar situation every day.”

From the creators of Sky News’ award-winning StoryCast, Ukraine War Diaries is a weekly podcast following the people living on Europe’s new frontiers and those who escaped.

Producer: Robert Mulhern

Digital Promotion and Additional Writing: David Chipakupaku