On a recent day in Kharkiv, 48 children were evacuated from a kindergarten after it sustained a direct hit from a Russian drone. Major-General Oleksandr Volobuev of Ukraine's Civil Protection Service and press officer Fedir Uhnenko were among the emergency responders involved in carrying children to safety. The incident resulted in one adult fatality and nine injuries, including serious burns and an amputation. All children evacuated were reported unharmed.
Drone Strike on Honey Academy
The Honey Academy, a two-storey brick building in Kharkiv's Kholodnohirsky district, was struck by a Shahed drone, an Iranian-designed weapon capable of carrying a 50kg payload. The drone strike caused extensive damage to the building, including the roof. There were no identified military targets in the immediate vicinity of the kindergarten, according to city maps. Russia has consistently denied targeting residential areas, but the Ukrainian government described the attack as deliberate. President Volodymyr Zelensky stated there is no justification for an attack on a kindergarten.
The Rescue Effort
Emergency teams, including Oleksandr Volobuev and Fedir Uhnenko from the Civil Protection Service, responded to the incident. An air raid warning had sounded prior to the attack, leading the children to take cover in the school's basement shelter. Upon arrival, responders found the children in the basement, where the building was filling with smoke and dust from the ongoing fire and structural damage.
Rescuers, assisted by members of the public, carried the children out of the damaged building. Major-General Volobuev was photographed carrying a child wrapped in his coat. Fedir Uhnenko, who also documented the rescue with his helmet-camera, carried a young boy, reassuring him during the evacuation through rubble and smoke. The children were transported to an emergency reception point located several hundred meters from the kindergarten. All 48 children were confirmed to be unharmed.
Casualties and Ongoing Risks
In addition to the damage to the kindergarten, one adult working nearby was killed in the strike, and nine others were wounded. Among the injured, one sustained serious burns and another required a traumatic amputation of a leg.
Emergency workers involved in the rescue operation were aware of multiple risks, including the active fire, falling debris, smoke, and the potential for a secondary strike. Ukrainian officials have noted instances of Russia striking the same target multiple times, a tactic that poses additional danger to emergency responders. The day after the kindergarten attack, a firefighter was killed and five colleagues were wounded in a similar "double tap" incident in a village near Kharkiv.