On the night of May 17, Ukrainian armed forces attacked Moscow and several districts of the Moscow region with drones. In the Ukrainian masses this attack on the capital region His name It is the largest since the beginning of the large-scale invasion of Russian forces in Ukraine, and Vladimir Zelensky said that Kiev’s response to Moscow’s strikes was “fully justified.” As a result of the drone attack, according to official data, three people were killed and 16 others were injured. The oil industry, residential buildings and private homes were destroyed. Cooperative of Independent Journalists “Berij” to speak With residents of Khimki and Kurkino near Moscow about what they saw and heard last night, as well as how they feel after this devastating attack on their cities. With permission to publish, Meduza publishes this material in its entirety.
Yaroslav
A resident of Khimki
We talk about what’s happening [с семьей] We discovered this completely by accident – there were no sirens or SMS alerts at all. Explosions started going off at night. We looked out the window and saw drones.
We didn’t leave the house, but spent the night in the bathroom. Residential buildings were directly hit about 2 kilometers to the left – in Butelkovo [в Красногорске] – And about a kilometer and a half on the right on Kudryavtseva Street [в Старых Химках]. He flew into a friend’s house and smashed the windows.
Fortunately, none of my friends were among the wounded or killed. But we feel bad. Previously, it seemed that Moscow was definitely protected. Now, perhaps, we better understand the feelings of Belgorod residents and residents of other regions when drones arrive and at the same time in general.
We were there on the first of May in the Lipetsk region, and all the notifications were there like clockwork. They are even “colour-coded”: there are yellow and red levels of missile or drone danger. For us it is just silence. Why is this?
As I understand it, no matter how much air defense is brought into the area, the human factor still decides a lot: something was shot down, something fell asleep. If there are not enough people, maybe it’s time to create a voluntary regional association for air defense in Khimki? From the 25-storey building, we saw about five drones – give us interceptor drones, they’re not going anywhere [украинские беспилотники] Didn’t fly any further.
Arena
A resident of Kurkino
To be honest, the kids and I were sound sleepers and we only learned everything from our neighbours. They said there were no sirens at all, and the house was literally shaking. And that three drones were dropped over us: two between the 10th and 12th houses, and another one between the 12th and 14th houses. A drone flew further, and shrapnel fell everywhere, including the kindergarten. The children later found these fragments – they were lying like rain.
When we called services [МЧС]The usual uniform arrived first. We were told there was nothing dangerous or scary, they simply left the fragments where they were. Then the activists arrived. One of them took a piece of glass and said: “Ha, it’s okay, that’s why they called you?” “Well, yes, actually,” I answered. He laughed and smiled. I told him that as per regulations, such things should be checked. In the end, the fragments were taken away.
The neighbors feel very bad now – everyone is afraid because the drones have come to us. Personally, on the one hand, I feel calmer than them, because my kids and I slept through it all. On the other hand, it is scary to realize that we have not heard anything. If the evacuation starts, we won’t even wake up.
Olga
A resident of Kurkino
We woke up around 4:10am to the sounds of air defense – and then I looked at my watch. There were about 17 loud explosions, three of which occurred directly above our house. The cat stood on end. At first my husband insisted it was Thunder, a kind and naive soul. But then it became clear that such thunderstorms do not happen.
There were no sirens in our area – neither before nor now. We just woke up from the noise. They did not go out – they sat at home, in the corridor, between two walls. There were no injuries among my friends, thank God, but everyone was very afraid.
It also happened before – we heard the same “boom” twice, but that was a long time ago, and then no one understood what was happening. It is now clear that even then it was most likely air defence.
Today a drone fell on my father’s house near Kubinka. There the windows were smashed, the balcony caught fire, and the bathroom was damaged. Neighbors helped put out the fire.
To be honest, we already have enough of all this. I would like the country’s leadership to finally have enough.
Marina Antonova For “Shor”