‘She was lovely, playing her violin’: Russian missiles kill civilians who fled frontline to start new life

Vladimir Putin’s revenge attack for the Crimea bridge explosion claimed innocent lives, as Kim Sengupta reports from Slovyansk

Vladimir Chumak outside the rubble of his house in Slovyansk after a Russian missile attack in which his sister-in-law Zoya was killed (Slovyansk city mayor’s office/Supplied)

The young siblings had fled their home near the frontline after barely escaping with their lives, and resettled with a new family in Slovyansk, where they should have been safer.

Kateryna, 25, was killed along with two members of her adoptive family, the Sudovas, when a missile struck their home in the early hours of Monday. Her brother, Ruslan, 12, survived but was seriously injured.

It was one of a wave of missile attacks deep into Ukraine launched by Vladimir Putin on Monday in revenge for the blown bridge in Crimea and the humiliation that had been inflicted on the Kremlin.

At least 11 were killed, including five in Kyiv which had not experienced an attack for weeks.

The aftermath of the deadly missile attack on Slovyansk that killed 25-year-old Kateryna (Slovyansk city mayor’s office/Supplied)

Recent sweeping gains made in a Ukrainian offensive had led to a relative relaxation in the region around Slovyansk, with a sense of normality returning. Shops and businesses were reopening, people were getting out on the streets.

Kateryna was a talented musician and had used the recent calm to play violin on the streets of the city to cheer up war-weary residents. She was killed along with Elena and Oleksei Sudova. Ruslan is in hospital with wounds from the explosion.

Blast waves from the missile, believed to be a long-range S-300, blew down the house across the street, killing Zoya Mekhtiyeva, a 45-year-old teacher at the local technical college who had been carrying out voluntary work in her spare time.

Kateryna and Ruslan had lived in Debaltseve, near Donetsk, which became the site of a major battle between Ukrainian and separatist forces in which 80 per cent of the city was destroyed. After being caught up in shelling that almost cost them their lives, they fled to Slovyansk to begin a new life.

The Sudovas’ home, in the ‘botanic’ district of the city, did not appear to be near a strategic location. However, another missile struck a car sales business further along the street earlier this week.

Ms Mekhtiyeva had been staying at her sister’s home. Her brother-in-law, Vladimir Chumak said: “This happened in the early hours of the morning, everything just exploded all around us. There was smoke and dust everywhere.

Kateryna, 25, was known for playing her violin in the centre of Slovyansk (Telegram/supplied)

“Zoya died in all this, we are all very, very sad, she was a lovely friendly person, everyone liked her. She has a young son, he was already fatherless and now he has lost his mother.  But he has a family, us, and we’ll look after him.

“Why did they do this? They have been losing a lot of territory around here recently, and then we had the bridge attack. They were angry, and someone had to pay the price and, as usual, it was the ordinary people who pay.

“Kateryna and Ruslan had already lost their home in Debaltseve, it’s so unfortunate, so sad it would end this way."

Mr Chumak’s two sons, Ilya and Bogdan, live in Kyiv. “We were worried about them, and they were worried about us,” he said. “We managed to talk to each other, but not for very long. We have learned to live with this constant worry.”

Another neighbour, Natalya, added: “The boy and girl had a really terrible experience in Debaltseve, all that fighting they had seen. Kateryna was lovely, playing her violin and now she has gone and Elena and Oleksei are dead as well, God rest their souls.”

“We have had our own problems in Slovyansk of course. But things have been getting better, and now this happens. We can’t get away from this war.”