‘We are still here’: The Ukrainian bombed three times by Russian forces and has somehow survived each one

On Sunday, Larissa’s latest place of refuge was struck by shelling, but again she dodged death. International correspondent Bel Trew reports from North Saltivka on an extraordinary tale of human survival

Svitlana in tears next to her bombed-out flat in Saltivka (Bel Trew)

Larissa says she hopes lightning doesn’t strike twice. But in her case, it has struck at least three times.

The 60-year-old is from North Saltivka, one of the hardest-hit areas of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, that lies just a few miles from the Russian border.

Larissa fled her home in the northern district in March when it was bombed, and then moved to a nearby school, which was then subsequently hit.