Hostomel, 4 Proskurivska St.

STORY

Proskurivska Street in Hostomel is located next to the strategically important Antonov airfield. The first civilian building on this street was damaged at 7:00 a.m. on February 24th, 2022 as a result of a russian missile strike against a military base of the National Guard of Ukraine.  

Apartment building No. 4, included into UNITED24’s reconstruction program, was also hit by a russian missile. The building’s roof and apartments on the fifth floor were almost entirely destroyed by the fire. Luckily, there were no human casualties. 

Alyona from Hostomel has been heartily nicknamed ‘Ukrainochka’ by her fellow townsfolk after the name of her store located near the airfield, which miraculously survived the attacks. Alyona admits that when she evacuated from Hostomel, in her mind she already said goodbye to her business, since the store has always been decorated by blue-and-yellow flags with national attributes. Nevertheless, Ukrainochka remained intact and has become a symbol of Hostomel’s invincibility. 

Alyona returned back to her Hostomel apartment almost immediately after the liberation and mine clearance. russian troops used to live in her dwelling. They left behind a terrible mess and insidious mine traps (one of the explosive devices was even put inside an old piano). All the walls in Alyona’s fourth floor flat were covered by mold, since the apartment above has no roof at all. She is doing her best in order to dry the walls, however more and more new mold fungi are growing there every day. Because of this contamination, the woman got sick and developed bronchitis almost immediately after returning home. 

Alyona’s dream is to welcome her three children back to Ukraine, but in order to do so, she first needs to repair her dwelling and make it safe again.