Matvy Voronov’s message reeks of despair. “Are any members of the Voronov family alive? Maybe someone saw them?” asked a local community group Thursday after learning that Russia had attacked their home village in southern Ukraine with a ballistic missile.
“Matvi, I was there too. Everyone died, only the foundations of the house remained,” one of the neighbors answered.
As of Thursday afternoon, rescuers had recovered the bodies of six people, including Voronov’s parents and four children, from the rubble of a house in Radushne, a rural village in Dnipro region.
Local authorities said it is believed 10 people were inside the house when the quake struck. Voronov’s parents Olena (41 years old) and Artyom (47 years old), seven of his nine siblings (Mark, 17, Dominika, 15, Viorika, 14, Zaharii, 12, Azari Irai, 11, Federica, 10, Emilia, 6), and a 18-year-old nephew. Artem.
Kryvi Ri military junta chief Oleksandr Virkul told CNN that an Iskander ballistic missile fired by Russia from Voronezh hit the Voronov family home.
The modest home didn’t stand a chance. Iskander missiles fly at six to seven times the speed of sound and can carry up to 700 kilograms of explosives.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the attack was “an ordinary house that was blown to pieces by a ballistic missile.”
Authorities are continuing to search for four other people known to have been in the home at the time of the missile attack. They warned that it was unlikely anyone would survive the attack and that DNA testing may be needed to identify the remains.
The dog, named Rocky by local media, was found alive when one of the rescuers found his tail sticking out of the rubble.
The attack on Radushne was part of a large-scale Russian air campaign carried out overnight into Thursday, with Ukrainian authorities saying Russia launched more than 70 missiles, many of them ballistic missiles, and 280 drones at multiple cities across Ukraine.
According to preliminary reports, Russia used a North Korean ballistic missile “for the first time in a long time” near Radushine, Zelenskiy said.
“This war could have ended a long time ago, but (Russian President Vladimir) Putin doesn’t want it. One minute he’s looking for weapons in North Korea, the next he’s in Iran, and then another thing. He’ll do whatever it takes to keep fighting, to keep killing,” Zelenskiy said.
Contrary to evidence from the ground in Ukraine, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that the attack targeted military installations.
Russia’s powerful ballistic missiles move at extremely high speeds, making it extremely difficult for Ukraine to intercept them. Some of the most advanced missiles can only be shot down using the U.S.-made Patriot defense system, which is in short supply. President Zelenskiy on Thursday described this as a “serious shortage of air defense missiles from our partners.”
“When we say that Ukraine needs missiles for patriots, we are talking about families like this, people like the (Voronovs). They can survive if we have the means to shoot down Russian missiles, that is, if our partners help us with interceptors,” Zelenskyy said.
News of the family’s murder by Russia sparked a huge outpouring of emotion and solidarity in Ukraine, with local social media groups flooded with messages praising the Voronovs as a loving family.
Neighbors told CNN that the Voronovs were devout Christians who considered their large family a blessing. “They were always shining,” said neighbor Katerina Chernysh.
“They raised their children to help and communicate with each other. In the village, they were known as an exemplary family who taught others how to be friends, love and support each other,” she added.
She said the boy who was with her family was Olena and Artyom’s grandson, and the child of their eldest son, who serves in the Ukrainian army.
