Serhii Moskalets, second from left, is head of the rescue station in Slovyansk, as firefighters work at a heavily damaged residential building looking for victims after a Russian attack on Sept. 8
Shortly after 4 a.m. Wednesday, Serhii Moskalets woke to the sound of a boom. Moments later his phone rang, as he knew it would. For the fire chief of a city being bombarded by Russian artillery, restful nights were an early casualty of war.
“I usually wake up about that hour even when it is quiet,” Moskalets said. “That is when they tend to hit us.”
This time it was a rocket, said the dispatcher. A building on Torska Street was struck: multiple floors on fire; massive structural damage. People were inside.
In peacetime, the Slovyansk fire department’s work was largely limited to grass fires in the surrounding countryside and the kitchen and trash blazes typical for a city of 100,000.
Now, Moskalets began to suit up for his new normal: burning blocks, collapsing building, mass casualties. His team has responded to more than 250 such events since June, when Russian artillery began to target the city as part of Moscow’s push to take over most of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. After one brutal barrage in July, his crews were battling 10 major blazes at one time.
Firefighters are generally considered noncombatants under the rules of war — Moskalets said they never carry arms to comply with Geneva Conventions — but departments like his are fully engulfed by the battle
Comments