“We ran into the corridor which saved us”: the apartment of journalist and media researcher Artem Zakharchenko destroyed

The apartment of journalist, lecturer at the Institute of Journalism of Kyiv National University and media researcher Artem Zakharchenko was badly damaged by the explosion. The family with three children has actually lost the home, which is associated with many warm memories of their loved ones.

“Today we spent the night with friends, and then we will look for options for what to do,” comments Artem Zakharchenko to the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU).

According to him, on May 24 he was supposed to go to a research conference in New York, the documents were already ready, but instead he stood in line all day to register the damage to the apartment.

He said that at the time of the impact, the family was inside. Literally five minutes before the explosion, Artem Zakharchenko was lying on the bed in the room that suffered the most. Everyone managed to run out into the corridor as soon as they heard the explosion.

The State Emergency Situations Service (SESS) is dismantling the three floors above Zakharchenkos’ apartment, destroyed by the explosion and fire. They are not allowed in the apartment at the moment – the house is in a state of emergency.

The journalist’s wife, writer Olena Zakharchenko, described what happened:

“When a missile hits a house, you can immediately see a big red cloud of bright lights, it flies like fireworks – these are small pieces of iron from the missile, heated to red, then they lie on all the surrounding streets. Usually a missile “collapses” a house, but ours turned out to be stronger – the upper floors were demolished, the fire was extinguished slowly, because it was such a night.

According to her, the blow was so strong that the family ran out of the apartment “not even stopping to change”.

A separate story is the paperwork. An entire street was damaged, behind each broken window – a family was affected.

“The queues are incredible, hundreds of people are standing in the sun. Yesterday we stood all day and didn’t have time until the evening. The police are very exhausted, because there is an incredible amount of work. But this is only the first part – then the housing and communal services, the police department, the central administration and payments, which are paid with very long delays,” notes Olena Zakharchenko.

Friends have opened a collection to help the affected family.

“They say that maybe they will repair other entrances, but ours is unlikely – it was ours that a missile flew in. And when they will be repaired, it is unknown: such houses sometimes stand for several years, because there are so many of them now,” states Olena.

As a reminder, at least six newsrooms reported damage as a result of the massive shelling of Kyiv by the russian army on the night of May 24. The blast also damaged the office of the Kyiv organization of the NUJU on Khreshchatyk.

The NUJU expresses solidarity with journalists, newsrooms and media workers who suffered on May 24 as a result of one of the largest russian missile and drone attacks on Kyiv.

The NUJU documents crimes against journalists and the media, informs international partners — the European and International Federations of Journalists, international human rights and media organizations — and insists on an appropriate international response and holding russia accountable.

At the same time, NUJU stands ready to support colleagues affected by the attack. Journalists and newsrooms can use the space of the NUJU’s Kyiv Journalists’ Solidarity Center (JSC) in the Union’s office on Khreshchatyk as a temporary place to work, if necessary. If the newsroom has lost the ability to function normally, we are ready to help.

The NUJU calls on colleagues whose newsrooms, workspaces or homes have been affected by the russian attack to contact the Union and the network of JSCs. We will help document the consequences and coordinate the necessary support.

NUJU Information Service