War Correspondent Pulls 4-Year-Old From Rubble After Drone Strike Near Kyiv
AI Analysis
A Russian drone strike near Kyiv caused civilian casualties, including the death of a woman and her partner, while a journalist rescued a 4-year-old girl from the rubble. The attack highlights the ongoing use of drones in targeting residential areas during the conflict, with additional strikes reported in Odesa and Kyiv's outskirts.
Key Takeaways
- A Russian drone strike hit a residential building in Bilohorodka near Kyiv, killing two civilians and injuring others.
- Journalist Marian Kushnir rescued a 4-year-old girl from the rubble after the drone strike destroyed part of the building.
- Ukrainian air defenses intercepted drones over Kyiv, but debris caused damage in the Holosiivskyi district.
- Additional drone strikes targeted Odesa, damaging residential areas and a monastery, though no casualties were reported there.
- The attacks demonstrate Russia's continued use of UAVs to target civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.
Why It Matters
This incident underscores the strategic use of drones in modern warfare, particularly in targeting civilian areas to disrupt morale and infrastructure. It also highlights the challenges faced by Ukrainian air defenses in intercepting UAVs and mitigating collateral damage, emphasizing the need for advanced counter-UAS systems.
Radio Liberty journalist and frontline correspondent Marian Kushnir rescued a four-year-old girl from a burning apartment building in Bilohorodka, near Kyiv, after a Russian drone struck the building early on Wednesday morning, Jan. 28.
According to Radio Liberty, the girl’s mother and the man she lived with were killed in the attack. The child survived and was later taken in by her father and older brother.
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Kushnir said he was at home when he heard the explosion. The drone struck the roof of his apartment building, hitting the upper two-story apartment.
Seeing the fire, the journalist grabbed his tactical press backpack and ran upstairs to locate the impact site. There, he noticed an apartment door left ajar where the drone had hit.
“I opened the door and saw a child lying on the sofa, wrapped in a blanket, crying and calling for her mother,” Kushnir said. “I could see the fire spreading from above. I realized the adults were likely sleeping on the second floor.”
He picked up the girl, carried her out of the apartment, handed her to a neighbor, and rushed back inside, believing others might still be alive. By then, the fire had already spread extensively.
“Later I learned that the drone hit the man and woman directly. They fell and died on the spot,” Kushnir said.
After being carried out, the child began crying uncontrollably and started shaking.
“She hugged me. And then it really hit me,” Kushnir added. “In 10 years of war, I have never experienced anything like holding a crying four-year-old child and realizing her mother is dead.”
Mykola Kalashnyk, head of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration, confirmed that the roof and upper floor of the residential building caught fire, killing two residents - a man and a woman. Four additional people received medical assistance at the scene.
Kushnir has worked with Radio Liberty since 2015, covering the Russian-Ukrainian war as a frontline correspondent. In March 2022, he suffered a concussion while filming Ukrainian forces repelling Russia’s offensive in the Kyiv region.
Throughout the war, he has reported from major combat zones, including Kyiv, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions.
He is a two-time laureate of the “Honor of the Profession” journalism award (2022 and 2024) and received a special distinction at the 2023 Bucha Journalism Conference for “exceptional courage and unwavering commitment to journalistic values during the Russian-Ukrainian war.”
Russian forces launched another wave of overnight drone attacks on Ukraine early on Jan. 28, striking residential areas in the Kyiv region and Odesa, killing civilians and damaging homes and apartment buildings, Ukrainian officials said.
In Kyiv, air raid alerts lasted nearly two hours as air defenses intercepted incoming drones. Debris from downed UAVs fell in the Holosiivskyi district, damaging roads and shattering windows in a residential building, no casualties were reported in the capital.
In the Bilohorodka community outside Kyiv, a Russian drone hit a multi-story residential building, at least two people were killed, and residents were evacuated as emergency crews and medics responded.
Further south, Russian drones also struck Odesa overnight. Damage was reported at several locations, including residential buildings and an Orthodox monastery.
In Odesa’s Kyivskyi district, a drone hit the grounds of a monastery, causing a fire that was quickly extinguished. Another strike damaged a private home, with authorities assessing structural safety. No casualties were reported in Odesa.
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