A guided bomb from Russian forces has destroyed a home for the elderly in Ukraine killing a 78-year-old woman.
Fourteen others were left injured with footage showing the traumatised residents from the Sumy Geriatric Boarding house in northeastern Ukraine.
Some 221 people lived in the retirement centre which was smashed apart in the attack by Russian forces which hit the fifth floor of the complex.
‘There are wounded, some of them are in serious condition and they have been hospitalised,’ said Volodymyr Artyukh, head of the Sumy regional administration, as he announced an evacuation.
Mykola, a patient who lived on the fourth floor of the home, said: ‘I was in the room, there was an explosion, the windows shattered.
‘Currently, the evacuation of elderly people to other facilities is taking place.’
Another resident Vitaly Anokhin, who lived here for six years, said: ‘Everything was fine until the ****ing Russians came.’
Another victim Viktor said: ‘The glass flew out. I was all covered in glass.
‘The rescuers came and helped me to get down.’
Resident Volodymyr said: ‘All my belongings are left there. The window simply fell out. At least I didn’t [die] there.
‘A man was carried out of my ward.’
The city’s acting mayor Artem Kobzar said: ‘All the windows are completely broken, we made our way from the first floor to the last, it is impossible to stay inside at the moment.
‘The enemy is hitting people who have nothing to do with the war, they are just sick people.’
Raisa Kutsenko, who was taking care of patients on the fifth floor when the bomb hit, said: ‘There are no windows or doors, the roof has been demolished, there are no ceilings.
‘I had 24 people on the fifth floor. Eight were bedridden.’
Artyukh said the shocked residents ‘need medical and psychological assistance’.
Sumy region has faced increased attacks from Russia since Ukraine invaded part of neighbouring Kursk region.
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