For three days, Ukrainian rescuers were clearing the rubble and uncovering bodies of people at the site where a Russian missile demolished an ordinary apartment building in Kyiv on 23 June. Among them were a mother and her daughter.

On 26 June, the State Emergency Service confirmed the conclusion of rescue efforts that resulted in the recovery of nine victims and 13 injured people.

Russia kills mother and daughter in their home

According to Suspilne news, approximately 100 people gathered near the damaged building to pay respects to 11-year-old Mariia and her mother Svitlana on 26 June, bringing flowers and children’s toys. Mariia’s father Andrii and older sister Valeriia attended the ceremony. They weren’t home when the Russian missile struck. 

Born in 2014, Mariia knew no world without war, yet she was a curious, bright child and pursued drawing since early childhood.

 “She was talented, loved to draw, she was radiant, her eyes shone, she was bright, positive, and responsible,” said Maryna, her art teacher.

The girl had recently experimented with independence, dyeing and cutting her own hair in a crooked, endearing way that made her sister smile.

“She always looked up to me. It was very nice,” Valeriia recalled, her voice breaking as she described their bond. “A few weeks ago she bought paint and dyed her hair herself and cut it very funny, crooked. She was very funny. And very beautiful. Cheerful. Sincere.”

The sisters were preparing for a summer adventure together—a Plast scout camp in the western Carpathian Mountains that would never come now.

The morning of 23 June began for Valeriia with a phone call that shattered everything. At 5 a.m., she received word from their aunt who lived nearby and rushed to find her father already waiting by the ruins.

“Where they were digging, there were my child and wife. I was at work,” Andrii said, his words heavy with disbelief. “It seems to me that this is just a dream.”

The first entrance where the family lived was completely destroyed down to the basement. Valeriia and Andrii waited 11 hours at the scene, hoping to see their loved ones alive but to no avail. 

 “It was hell. We waited 11 hours and I sincerely prayed that they would be alive,” Valeriia shared.

The waiting continues in a different form now—waiting for sleep that won’t come, for appetite that has vanished, for acceptance of a reality too cruel to comprehend.

“I haven’t even accepted the fact yet, I haven’t even realized it yet. Doctors give me various sedatives because I can’t sleep, I can’t eat.”

Her iPhone still suggests photo memories of Mariia—images too painful to view of a girl who will never grow up, whose drawings will remain forever unfinished.

“And it’s hard, I can barely look at these photos. It’s very difficult for me right now,” Valeriia said.

Their mother Svitlana was described by those who knew her as a woman who balanced demanding work responsibilities with unwavering dedication to her children’s wellbeing and dreams.

“Mom always invested a lot in work and in us,” her surviving daughter Valeriia remembered.

“Coalition of killers”: Missile Russia used was likely North Korean

The overnight 22-23 June attack marked one of the largest recent air raids on Kyiv, according to Ukraine’s Air Force. Russian forces deployed 159 Shahed drones and 16 ballistic and cruise missiles, likely exported from North Korea, targeting the capital and surrounding oblasts. 

One Russian ballistic missile struck the residential building, where Mariia and Svitlana lived, with such force that it penetrated to the basement, with the explosion damaging cars 200-300 meters from the impact site. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attributed such attacks to what he termed a “coalition of killers” comprising Russia, Iran, and North Korea.

“Everyone in countries bordering Russia, Iran, and North Korea should ask themselves whether they could protect lives if this coalition of killers survives and continues spreading terror,” he stated.

Yurii Ihnat, head of the Air Force Communications Department, explained on Radio NV that despite the missile being intercepted, the falling debris still caused substantial destruction of the building.

“Of course, if it had been a direct hit, there would have been significantly worse, greater consequences,” he stated, urging citizens to use shelters always.

The deadly gamble of ignoring air raid sirens in wartime Ukraine

After more than three years of full-scale war, air raid sirens have become as routine as city noise for many Ukrainians, sounding tens of thousands of times since the full-scale invasion began.

This constant exposure has led to alarm fatigue and a psychological adaptation where some people develop a fatalistic belief that survival depends more on luck than seeking shelter.

The mental toll of prolonged conflict, marked by anxiety, depression, and war weariness, can leave people emotionally exhausted and less responsive to repeated warnings, especially when combined with practical barriers like locked or inaccessible shelters.

While shelters and metro stations in cities like Kyiv can provide life-saving protection from missile strikes and debris—unlike in frontline areas where attacks happen too quickly—factors such as the time of day, family circumstances, shelter accessibility, and simple hope that “it won’t hit here” influence split-second decisions.

For little Mariia and her mom Svitlana, like many civilians caught in nighttime attacks, the decision not to seek shelter likely reflected this complex reality of wartime life.