2023-10-22 14:15:00
“These bastards knew they were hitting civilians,” accuses the director of the Nova Pochta center hit by a missile
Fur-lined shoes, baby seat, generator, blankets, stroller, garden hose, down jacket… In the middle of scrap metal creaking in the wind and between two puddles of blood lie hundreds of torn packages. The S-300 missile which struck on Saturday evening, in the suburbs of Kharkiv, the largest regional center of Nova Pochta (“new post”, private post and courier company), killed six members of the staff among the thirty- three people who worked there. Sixteen injured people are in hospital, eight of whom are in serious condition, and two bodies might not be identified. Hanging on the courtyard gate, a woman cries in front of the Nova Pochta trucks in pieces.
Born in 2001, Nova Pochta, a private company that came to compete with traditional public postal services, was already an institution before the war. Since February 24, 2022, when travel to dangerous areas is rare and there are many moves, it has enjoyed tremendous success. Thanks to 10,000 official points and 13,000 QR code lockers, Nova Pochta delivers overnight to any corner of the country and, since the Russian invasion, to Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia, Moldova… A European flag flies at the entrance to the depot, next to the Ukrainian flag.
Since the Donbass war, humanitarian packages have also been delivered free of charge by the 32,000 employees of the company, known for working seven days a week until late at night, like this Saturday when a missile hit the Donbass depot. Kharkiv, at 10:20 p.m. In 2022, a lighter strike had already left one dead and six injured. “At night, you can see Russia from the roof. Belgorod is just behind the hill. In forty-five seconds of flight, the alert doesn’t even have time to go off.”, explains the director of the regional center, Dmytro Zavada, his face frozen. He started there as a warehouseman and knew every employee.
“Those bastards knew they were hitting civilians. They also attack something symbolic. Our packages are often the only way for families to communicate with each other. We even delivered to Vovchansk [nord-est de Kharkiv], 2 kilometers from the Russian border, via an inflatable boat. Nova Pochta is the first thing restored in the liberated villages, with electricity and 4G. It’s everyday life for Ukrainians, and it’s also sentimental: as winter or Christmas approaches, a mother knows that her son will receive his package the next day. »
Ariane Chemin
1697986188
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