"I was watching, I was terrified": witnesses recounted the Russian strike that killed three children

In Tokarivka of the Veselynivka community, local residents described the first minutes after a Russian strike that on the evening of 21 August 2026 took the lives of four people. Among the dead were two 11-year-old boys and a 13-year-old boy, as well as a 30-year-old man. A 36-year-old woman was wounded and hospitalized. Witnesses shared their experiences with reporters from Suspilne Mykolaiv.

Around 18:00, a Russian strike drone, reportedly a “Shahed” type, hit a building that housed a shop, a branch of “Nova Poshta” and a pharmacy. A fire started after the strike. The flames engulfed about 300 square meters.

Local resident Mykhailo, who lives opposite the attack site, said he was returning from volleyball when he heard the explosion. He went to the damaged buildings and saw his acquaintance Avhustyn, who had arrived on a motorcycle to “Nova Poshta”.

“I look, Avhustyn is lying there; he had come by motorcycle to “Nova Poshta”. People started to gather and shout. They loaded Avhustyn and took him to Berezivka hospital. He did not (ed. — reach) the hospital; he died,” – Mykhailo said.

According to official data, the 30-year-old man suffered severe injuries and died on the way to the hospital. At the strike site three boys also died – two were 11 years old, the third was 13 years old.

According to Mykhailo, the children were near the post office. The man told journalists what he saw after the explosion, when people began to gather at the scene of the tragedy.

“I was looking, I was terrified. They dragged them by the hand closer to my house. They picked up fingers, slippers. They covered them. Fire crews arrived and started to put out the fire, then the police, then the ambulance. Such a tragedy,” – a local resident said.

Mykhailo’s home was also damaged by the Russian strike – the windows in his house were blown out. At the attack site there remained a crater, damaged buildings and charred trees.

Another Tokarivka resident, Mykola, went outside after the explosion. He said he personally knew the deceased man and the postal worker who was wounded. It was especially hard, he said, to see the reactions of the relatives of the dead children.

“I saw the fire here and the parents. The mother was running, her children with her. The mother ran and lost consciousness. The grandfather wailed in a way that’s impossible to describe,” – Mykola said. 

Mykola also said that the deceased man, according to his information, was a serviceman who had come from the front on leave. Authorities have not separately confirmed this circumstance, so this is based on the local resident’s words.

“He was defending his family at the front, came on leave and died like this. A normal person can’t make sense of it.”

Artem Vahin, the spokesperson for the Main Department of the State Emergency Service (DSNS) of Ukraine in Mykolaiv region, said that after the Russian drone struck a shop and the nearby “Nova Poshta” branch caught fire. Rescuers extinguished the fire; other emergency services also worked at the scene.

Law enforcement agencies are documenting the consequences of the Russian attack. An investigation has been launched into violations of the laws and customs of war that caused the deaths.

Earlier we wrote:

• Three children and a man killed, an elderly woman wounded: Russians again struck Mykolaiv region with drones
• Five people died in Mykolaiv region in one day, four of them due to attacks
• Three children and a man died from an RF strike: August 22 declared a day of mourning in Mykolaiv region
• Russian drone killed three children in Mykolaiv region: another man died on the way to the hospital
• In Ochakiv, an 81-year-old woman was injured as a result of a ‘Gerbera’ UAV strike