What is the problem?
On January 2, the Russians launched a massive missile attack on Ukrainian cities. In Kyiv, the Solomianskyi District was the most affected: multi-story residential buildings caught fire, balconies, and windows were blown out by the shock wave, and some apartments were completely destroyed by fire.
Iryna lived with her mother-in-law in one of these apartments on the eighth floor. The resident said that she went down to the parking lot on the day the air raid alarm sounded. The mother-in-law stayed at home because her health problems made it difficult for her to go down and up the stairs, so she decided to wait out the air alarm at home with the cat.
"There was an explosion; the debris fell into our apartment, and it caught fire almost immediately. We simply couldn't get help because cars were exploding, and everything was blocked. My daughter's grandmother, my mother-in-law, could not get out because the door was blocked. Unfortunately, she died," Iryna recalls.
Iryna in her destroyed apartment.
Iryna is staying with her sister. She adds that the employees of the university where she works, relatives, and acquaintances are very helpful. After the tragedy, she only had what she ran to the shelter with.
Iryna's neighbor from the second entrance also says that she miraculously survived — when the building was struck, she was behind two walls and was going to the bathroom. Now, she has no balcony or windows, but most importantly, she has survived.
What is the solution?
As soon as the consequences of the rocket attack became known, the non-governmental organizations Los Solomas and Soloma Cats united to help the victims. Alyona Nikitina, the coordinator of Los Solomas, says that people did not even have to be called — they came up, wrote, and showed a willingness to volunteer. Maksym Fomin, the coordinator of Soloma Cats, adds: "We put out a call to our channels and added those interested in the chat. When people came, we already gave them work on the spot." The volunteer says that, despite the not-so-best weather conditions, many people came to volunteer, and with each subsequent day, the number did not decrease.
How does it work?
The apartment is completely permeated with the smell of burning. The only thing left here is the metal frame from the mirror. Two schoolchildren, Polina and Mykhailo, work where the bedroom used to be. They rake the burned area with shovels and carry heavy sacks. Students are on the scene from day one. They learned about the need for help from social networks.
Students help the owner of the apartment.
The volunteer chat was created immediately, and almost 600 people joined it within a week of work. Here, coordinators publish the most urgent information, volunteers respond to requests, and victims can ask for help.
Coordinators are also responsible for assigning duties according to people's abilities: someone will be sent to clean up debris; those with construction experience will be involved in repair works; and someone will be hired to take care of volunteers and victims and warm them with tea and lunch.
Oleksandra is responsible for the latter. When it's raining outside, and there's a swamp underfoot, her overriding mission is to add energy and inner warmth. Oleksandra is responsible for the food court and distribution of snacks.
Oleksandra gives out tea and goodies.
In addition to food courts, people organized a field kitchen where anyone willing could bring homemade food, sandwiches, and coffee. Some even brought dumplings cooked immediately on the spot and given to the volunteers while they were still warm.
Had a snack — it's time to return to work, of which there is plenty.
"We work tirelessly: we take out garbage, cover people's windows, clean apartments for those who need help, deliver some materials. This is a constant process," Fomin comments. At first, the team bought the necessary things independently. Then, Ukraine's home improvement hypermarket chain Epicenter and community subscribers joined in, providing building materials or donating funds for their purchase.
Unloading cars with construction materials.
One of the main needs is boarding the windows. Fomin shares that the utilities planned to turn on the heating, but the heat does not escape through the OSB plates as quickly as through the film, which was used to cover the damaged parts of the house. There were not enough cordless tools that could be used to cut plates of the required size. Only on the fourth day did four sawmills start working on the location for more efficient work.
A volunteer is sawing boards to cover windows.
Next to the house, a group of volunteers is removing broken glass, which is hidden in the grass in small pieces.
Volunteer Tasha tells Rubryka that although she does not live in this area, she came to help: "I understand that something similar can happen to me at some point. This motivates the people who live here — knowing they can get help and are not alone."
Таша
As of January 8, volunteers have finished cleaning the area. Now the damaged location looks like this:
Source: Los Solomas
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