On the morning of November 19, the enemy launched the most powerful missile strike on Ternopil since the beginning of the full-scale war. As a result of the deadly attack by the terrorist country, the city suffered severe destruction, human losses, and injuries. The legendary forward of «Niva» from the 80s and 90s, and now coach Ihor Yavorsky, spoke about what happened on that terrible morning of November 19.
Ihor Yavorsky— It happened near our house, just one kilometer away. The air raid sirens began to sound in Ternopil as early as midnight, but at 5:40 in the morning, it was so loud that I woke up and immediately looked out the window. There I saw a glow in the sky from the shooting. And then I see — missiles flying! And a moment later I hear: «Bang!», «Bang!», «Bang!».
We have a private house, and after such a powerful explosion, we felt as if the house had been lifted and lowered. Everything in the house shook from the shock wave, the curtains trembled. Nine ballistic Kinzhal missiles, nine explosions. And immediately smoke rose, everything caught on fire. The hit was on the eighth floor of a ten-story building, the upper floors were destroyed. And also it «hit» the first floor, where a family of four lived. They died instantly.
Apart from that, the enemy also targeted other objects — an enterprise, a gas station. In this area, there is also a school, kindergarten, and football field. Everything is damaged, much is destroyed. Because of this, schools have been switched to distance learning. From early morning until late at night, the sites of the «hits» are completely cordoned off as all emergency services are working, special equipment has been mobilized. There is a lot of work for firefighters, rescuers, and paramedics. Debris is being cleared, people are being extracted.
Just now they reported that they managed to extract a 20-year-old boy who was trapped between the walls of an apartment in the destroyed high-rise building. There are many victims, and the fates of even more people are unknown. This was a targeted strike by RF against civilians. Horror, real horror! It’s very scary when people die and there seems to be no end in sight to this terror. The enemy wants to intimidate and break our people, but he will not succeed.
— How do you manage to work under such conditions?
— Of course, it’s difficult. Sometimes during training sessions, drones or missiles start flying, but the kids, engrossed in the game, say to me: «Petrovich, it’s nothing, let’s play a bit more.» But I’m adamant, I say: «No-no, everyone to the shelter!» And today, of course, we canceled the training. God forbid, we put the children at risk. When deadly weapons are flying, you never know where they will eventually land. And we have a lot of kids here.
Sometimes you read the news, and they say that one city was shelled, then another, hits on Odesa, Kharkiv, Lviv, Kyiv. And you think: «God, when will it end?!» Everywhere people are dying, the country is crying. Today I also broke down and cried from all this horror; it was very hard. Whole families are dying. Like today with us: mother, father, girl, boy. It’s just a horror that cannot be put into words.
— What is known about the number of casualties?
— They say that after the missile strike on Ternopil, the number could be significantly higher than the 25 people already announced. Because family members can’t reach over 60 phone numbers. In total, there are 200 applications for phones that cannot be reached. One can only imagine how many people were trapped under the rubble, which is continuously being cleared. Relatives and loved ones stand nearby and wait for the work to end, crying. One man has been walking there all day — his wife and two children are in that building. Moreover, the mayor of Ternopil warned residents not to open windows because the aftermath of the missile attack has led to air pollution with chlorine, exceeding the norm by six times.
Andriy Pysharenko
