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A Ukrainian mother who was trapped for 20 hours under rubble after Russian airstrikes destroyed her apartment was unable to scream for help because she is deaf, her sister has revealed.
Russian missiles destroyed the civilian housing block of flats in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Saturday. killing 40.
Kateryna ‘Katya’ Zelenska, 27, was photographed covered in dust with her neck in a neck brace as rescuers pulled her out of the rubble. She was later identified by her sister, Alina, when she shared the heartbreaking image on Instagram.
She said: ‘This is Katya, my sister! She was found just this morning and thank God she is alive. She lived with her family in that cursed house in Peremoza!
‘She couldn’t ask for help, because she’s been deaf since childhood!’
Katya is rescued from the rubble in a photo released by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.
Kateryna’s sister said that they were still looking for the missing husband and one-year-old child.
Sister Alina shared an image of Kateryna ‘Katya’ Zelenska being rescued from the rubble
Russia fired 33 cruise missiles on Saturday, of which 21 were shot down, according to General Valeriy Zaluzhny, commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces.
The attack was the largest in Russia in several weeks and targeted Ukraine’s electrical infrastructure and urban areas.
Kyiv and Kharkiv also came under missile attack.
Dnipro firefighters worked Saturday night and Sunday morning to recover survivors and the dead from the destroyed residential area.
Earlier today, the mayor of the city, Boris Filatov saying there was a “minimum” chance of finding any more survivors as the death toll reached 35.
At the time of writing, the number of recovered dead is 40.
75 have been confirmed injured, including 14 children.
The condition of 30 residents is still unknown.
Some of the people trapped in the building, which housed 1,700 people, were able to use flashlights on their mobile phones to attract attention.
Mother Kateryna, who could not scream for help because she is deaf, was found with a body temperature of 87.8°F (31°C) after 20 hours trapped in freezing temperatures.
The average body temperature for a healthy adult is 98.6°F (37°C).
She was hospitalized and remains in intensive care, where doctors are trying to save her life.
Kateryna Zelenska’s (right) husband (left) and their one-year-old son are reportedly still missing
Emergency services work at the site where an apartment block was badly damaged in Dnipro
Kateryna Zelenska (right) was found and rescued by firefighters after 20 hours with hypothermia
Rescue teams carry the body of a man who was killed in a Russian missile attack on Saturday.
According to the website Our CityKateryna’s missing son and husband were killed in the attack.
Locals were “shocked” that a residential building of no apparent strategic value was attacked by Russian forces.
Ivan Garnuk said: ‘There are no military installations here. There is nothing here. There is no air defense, there are no military bases here. It just hit civilians, innocent people.
Dnipro residents joined rescuers on the scene to help clear the rubble. Others brought food and warm clothing for those who had lost their homes.
The condition of 30 residents is still unknown after the Russian attack in Dnipro on Saturday.
Firefighters in Ukraine seek to rescue woman from rubble after Russian airstrike
The apartments in Dnipro, in central Ukraine, housed 1,700 people before Saturday’s attack.