An aid worker described surviving a Russian missile attack on a hotel in Ukraine as feeling like an “apocalyptic movie.”
Karol Swiacki, founder of Bournemouth-based Ukraine Relief, and his team were leaving dinner when caught in the attack on Kryvyi Rih overnight. The strike killed at least four people and injured 31, according to the city’s regional governor.
Kryvyi Rih is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown. Zelensky is currently attending an EU emergency summit where he thanked European leaders for their “strong support.”
Speaking to BBC Radio Solent, Swiacki explained he had traveled to Ukraine to deliver supplies to shelters, orphanages, and schools. He has previously won a BBC award for his aid work in Ukraine.
“We had a nice dinner together and were planning to go to a school in the morning,” Swiacki told listeners. “We were about to go to our rooms when the message of the rocket alarm arrived to our friends’ Ukrainian phone numbers, ‘Immediately go to the shelter, ballistic missile is coming.'”
He continued: “Big explosions arrived – in one second, the shortest second in my life, everything changed to the nightmare. We were running in this dust, we couldn’t see, we couldn’t breathe – absolute disaster, like an apocalyptic movie. I thought we were in a dream. We got outside and we saw the fire all over people with blood, people dead on the street, we didn’t know what to do. We were in hell.”
Videos show Swiacki discovering their van, filled with donations and supplies, crushed under rubble.
“It’s a miracle we survived,” Swiacki said. “We are all thinking this was the message to us not to stop and continue supporting Ukraine. I think it’s our mission to continue and be even stronger than we are. This war is terrible and a complete nightmare for Ukraine. I am terrified but happy. I have experienced this because it will be a mission to the end of my life, I think.”
Despite the attack, Swiacki and his team still visited the school the next morning to deliver sports equipment. “We couldn’t give up, we slept for two hours, cleaned our shoes, our clothes – we can’t let children be disappointed,” he said. “We gave them hugs, we cannot show them we are weak; they need people from the West so they can stand strong.”
Yuriy Sak, an adviser to Ukraine’s Ministry of Strategic Industries, described the strike as an attack on “a civilian, peaceful hotel.” Reports indicate the missile also damaged 13 apartment blocks and 12 shops. This marks the second time in five months the hotel has been targeted.
At the EU summit, President Zelensky told leaders: “During all this period, and last week, you stayed with us. We are not alone, and these are not just words; we feel it.”
A UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson stated: “Russia’s indiscriminate attacks on civilians are a sobering reminder that Putin continues to wage his barbaric war. Aid workers’ protection must be ensured as they carry out vital work to mitigate Ukrainian suffering.”
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