the city of Kharkiv under the bombs, the civilians take refuge in the subway

At 5 a.m. on Thursday February 24, in Shugouyev, in the suburbs of Kharkiv (Ukraine), a missile exploded between two buildings. A few hours after the tragedy, an old lady, dazed, contemplates the ruins. She managed to save her medication.

“With this bombardment, the entrance to my apartment caught fire. And on the first floor, there is a teenager who died. He was 16 years old, he was in second class”she is moved. “They destroyed everything. It’s not a military target here, it’s a building. He must know, Putin, that he now has blood on his hands, and that he will not be forgiven”, loose a local resident. Both buildings are located near a military airport.

Towards the center of the city of Kharkiv, many Ukrainian troops on the move seem to be heading north, and the Russian border. In Kharkiv, the streets are almost deserted. Many civilians have taken refuge in the metro, with or without a suitcase. Children are lying on makeshift mattresses, the sick are helped by their relatives.

Earlier in the day, on the military air base of Kramatorsk (Ukraine), the soldiers seemed in panic: a missile had just touched their base. On the road taken by the France Télévisions teams, the civilians are mostly calm. Long queues form to buy gas or withdraw cash.