The apartment at 24 Liubovi Maloi avenue was an eerie ruin. Its roof and outer walls had disappeared. In one corner, a row of suits hung in a wardrobe. There was a TV, a coffee cup, a maroon jacket on a peg. And a black-and-white photo album with old family snaps taken in communist times.
The flat’s inhabitants – Svitlana Vlasenko and her grownup daughter, Polina – were not coming back. The Russian missile that fell on their building on a Friday night killed them and six of their neighbours. Twenty-six people were injured, two of them children.
The street in Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv, was not near any military objects. It was a quiet place of flower-beds, communal benches and a sandy play area for children. Residents walked their dogs in
