8 kilometers to the border with Russia: how emergency rescue workers work under constant shelling in Sumy region
The army of occupiers regularly shelling the border settlements of Sumy region. Over a hundred enemy strikes are recorded per day. However, all services remain with the population, and most importantly - the emergency responders immediately respond to enemy strikes and go to eliminate the consequences. This was convinced by the journalists of the documentary project “War and Us”, which tells the stories of civilians and military in this war, in order to capture as much as possible the brave eyes of Ukrainians and the war crimes of the Russian Federation.
Each time arriving at the site of damage, rescuers risk their lives, because often the Russians carry out repeated rocket fire or artillery strikes.
According to their “best traditions”, the occupiers are hitting civilian facilities: the pension fund, educational institutions and the private sector. One of those who lost the roof over her head is a local resident of Bilopilla Zina Ivanovna. From the windows of her house, the remains and traces of the launch of missiles from the territory of Russia were always visible. However, in March 2023, not all missiles flew overhead, one of them hit the private sector. From the shock wave, the house of Zina Ivanovna is completely destroyed. Yes, and the woman barely survived, she was taken from under the rubble by the rescuers of the State Emergency Service.
The emergency workers insist that they will stay with the population and help them, in spite of everything. It is known that since the beginning of Russia's full-scale aggression on the territory of Ukraine, 79 emergency personnel of the State Emergency Service have died. In particular, in Sumy region in the city of Bilopillya, 8 kilometers from the border with Russia, 22-year-old Sergey Antonenko was injured on July 17, as a result of rocket fire on the city.
The guy devoted two years to the service, and on that year he was in the rescue and fire department. The first explosion in Bilopil thundered without the “Air Alarm” signal, but after feeling the blow, the rescuers immediately went to shelter. In a minute it flew for the second time on the territory of the fire department of the State Emergency Service.
“The arrival was at the wall of the shelter. It was there that our colleague Sergey Antonenko stood. He fell over and fell asleep with his head. Those who were standing nearby were cut by debris, but everyone immediately began to dig up Sergei,” recalls Andriy Zoretsky, head of the 6th state fire and rescue department of the city. Bilopillya.
During the life of the young sucker, doctors fought for 5 days, but on July 23, Sergei's heart stopped beating. The release of the documentary project “War and Us” is dedicated to all the dead emergency personnel and those heroes without weapons, who, despite fear and fatigue, continue to help, bringing Ukraine closer to victory. See the link.
Department of Communications of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine
