Ukrainians knew a huge strike was coming. Since Russia threatened to step up attacks on the capital, Kyiv, about a week ago, many spent nights in underground shelters.

We were two floors underground, and yet we could feel and hear the massive explosions above. Then came the Russian drones, possibly carrying more explosives or scouting out the damage done by the missiles. Then more missiles.

More than 41,000 people - including almost 4,500 children - sheltered underground in the Kyiv metro overnight, a record number in recent years, the metro company said.

Even though Moscow had said its attacks would get much worse, this one was not much different from what Kyiv had seen already, many times. Yet again, Russia said it would strike military targets, but civilians suffered.

As they emerged from shelters after the attack, many were shocked to see their neighbourhoods completely transformed, for the worse. Windows smashed, cars turned into unrecognisable heaps of burnt, twisted metal.

In Kyiv, at least six people died that night, and there was death and destruction elsewhere in Ukraine. In Dnipro, at least 16 people were killed as two residential buildings were hit.

More than 90 people were injured across both cities, while Kharkiv in the north-east - which also saw its energy facilities and civilian infrastructure hit - reported 10 injured, including a child. Other regions across the country were targeted.

In Vynohradar, normally a sleepy neighbourhood of Kyiv, we saw a scene of utter devastation. High-rise apartment blocks with windows smashed, shells of burnt-out cars on the pavements, dust and smoke in the air.

Anna lives in a nine-storey apartment block right next to the epicentre of one of the explosions. Tearfully, she told me that one of the cars completely destroyed by the blast was hers. "They'll fix the building, but not our souls," she said. "The whole of the building, the whole of Ukraine is in grief. What have we done to deserve this?"

The attack was followed by a massive effort to clean up the damage and help the survivors. Rescuers, psychologists and volunteers worked on site.

Step away from the epicentre of the blast, and a sense of normality begins to return. Around the corner from Anna's house, a couple of children were playing on a swing. This is Kyiv's way of dealing with the war: no matter how hard it gets hit, the city still goes back to its daily routines.

Source: www.bbc.com