02:36A bus driver named Alexander described how he transported people from the Uchkuevka beach in Sevastopol following shelling on Sunday.
"I was driving a route number 50 minibus from Zakharov Square towards Uchkuevka, the beach. While driving down there, there were explosions. When I arrived there, people started running out, wide-eyed with fear," he said.
Alexander added that added that he decided to help evacuate people free of charge and on his own initiative.
"When I got there, and people started running, it was definitely my own initiative on what to do. I've already taken out everyone I could. When I arrived, I called my supervisor, and explained the situation. My supervisor said that we should go, try to [pick up] everyone, the more people we take, the better. Well, that's it, I traveled, made about three journeys there. I brought everyone I could," the driver said.
The man also stressed that he helped evacuate only those who were not injured, with the 'seriously wounded' taken away by special services.
"Most of the ambulances were already there, everyone was already on duty: the Ministry of Emergency Situations [EMERCOM], ambulances, military, traffic police, all of the teams. They were already taking the seriously wounded ones, and I was taking away the majority of the frightened people: children, everyone," Alexander said.
Earlier, Russian Defence Ministry reported that a "terrorist missile attack was carried out on the city of Sevastopol by five American ATACMS tactical missiles equipped with cluster warheads."
The Ministry noted that four missiles were intercepted by air defence system, while “the explosion of the fragmentation warhead of the fifth missile in the air led to numerous casualties among civilians in Sevastopol,” when rocket fragments struck Uchkuevka beach.
The Defense Ministry attributed the strike to "Washington, which supplied these weapons to Ukraine, as well as the Kiev regime, from whose territory this attack was launched." The press service also said that there would be a response.
Media reports citing the assistant to the head of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation Alexei Kuznetsov later reported that 124 people had been wounded in the attack, including 27 children.
Russia’s Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova reported via social media that five children were in serious condition.
The Investigative Committee of Russia has opened a criminal case into a possible 'terrorist act', with investigators at the scene.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova claimed that the strike's timing was deliberate - on the Day of the Holy Trinity.
"We perfectly understand what is inside the essence of the Kiev regime - it is a deep hatred for everything connected with Russia, with Russian culture. And of course, Orthodoxy and Christianity in general," Zakharova claimed.
At time of publication, the Ukrainian side and Washington had not commented on the claims or the shelling of Sevastopol.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.
'I was just taking frightened people away' - Bus driver on evacuation following Sevastopol beach shelling *EXCLUSIVE*
A bus driver named Alexander described how he transported people from the Uchkuevka beach in Sevastopol following shelling on Sunday.
"I was driving a route number 50 minibus from Zakharov Square towards Uchkuevka, the beach. While driving down there, there were explosions. When I arrived there, people started running out, wide-eyed with fear," he said.
Alexander added that added that he decided to help evacuate people free of charge and on his own initiative.
"When I got there, and people started running, it was definitely my own initiative on what to do. I've already taken out everyone I could. When I arrived, I called my supervisor, and explained the situation. My supervisor said that we should go, try to [pick up] everyone, the more people we take, the better. Well, that's it, I traveled, made about three journeys there. I brought everyone I could," the driver said.
The man also stressed that he helped evacuate only those who were not injured, with the 'seriously wounded' taken away by special services.
"Most of the ambulances were already there, everyone was already on duty: the Ministry of Emergency Situations [EMERCOM], ambulances, military, traffic police, all of the teams. They were already taking the seriously wounded ones, and I was taking away the majority of the frightened people: children, everyone," Alexander said.
Earlier, Russian Defence Ministry reported that a "terrorist missile attack was carried out on the city of Sevastopol by five American ATACMS tactical missiles equipped with cluster warheads."
The Ministry noted that four missiles were intercepted by air defence system, while “the explosion of the fragmentation warhead of the fifth missile in the air led to numerous casualties among civilians in Sevastopol,” when rocket fragments struck Uchkuevka beach.
The Defense Ministry attributed the strike to "Washington, which supplied these weapons to Ukraine, as well as the Kiev regime, from whose territory this attack was launched." The press service also said that there would be a response.
Media reports citing the assistant to the head of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation Alexei Kuznetsov later reported that 124 people had been wounded in the attack, including 27 children.
Russia’s Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova reported via social media that five children were in serious condition.
The Investigative Committee of Russia has opened a criminal case into a possible 'terrorist act', with investigators at the scene.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova claimed that the strike's timing was deliberate - on the Day of the Holy Trinity.
"We perfectly understand what is inside the essence of the Kiev regime - it is a deep hatred for everything connected with Russia, with Russian culture. And of course, Orthodoxy and Christianity in general," Zakharova claimed.
At time of publication, the Ukrainian side and Washington had not commented on the claims or the shelling of Sevastopol.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.
A bus driver named Alexander described how he transported people from the Uchkuevka beach in Sevastopol following shelling on Sunday.
"I was driving a route number 50 minibus from Zakharov Square towards Uchkuevka, the beach. While driving down there, there were explosions. When I arrived there, people started running out, wide-eyed with fear," he said.
Alexander added that added that he decided to help evacuate people free of charge and on his own initiative.
"When I got there, and people started running, it was definitely my own initiative on what to do. I've already taken out everyone I could. When I arrived, I called my supervisor, and explained the situation. My supervisor said that we should go, try to [pick up] everyone, the more people we take, the better. Well, that's it, I traveled, made about three journeys there. I brought everyone I could," the driver said.
The man also stressed that he helped evacuate only those who were not injured, with the 'seriously wounded' taken away by special services.
"Most of the ambulances were already there, everyone was already on duty: the Ministry of Emergency Situations [EMERCOM], ambulances, military, traffic police, all of the teams. They were already taking the seriously wounded ones, and I was taking away the majority of the frightened people: children, everyone," Alexander said.
Earlier, Russian Defence Ministry reported that a "terrorist missile attack was carried out on the city of Sevastopol by five American ATACMS tactical missiles equipped with cluster warheads."
The Ministry noted that four missiles were intercepted by air defence system, while “the explosion of the fragmentation warhead of the fifth missile in the air led to numerous casualties among civilians in Sevastopol,” when rocket fragments struck Uchkuevka beach.
The Defense Ministry attributed the strike to "Washington, which supplied these weapons to Ukraine, as well as the Kiev regime, from whose territory this attack was launched." The press service also said that there would be a response.
Media reports citing the assistant to the head of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation Alexei Kuznetsov later reported that 124 people had been wounded in the attack, including 27 children.
Russia’s Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova reported via social media that five children were in serious condition.
The Investigative Committee of Russia has opened a criminal case into a possible 'terrorist act', with investigators at the scene.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova claimed that the strike's timing was deliberate - on the Day of the Holy Trinity.
"We perfectly understand what is inside the essence of the Kiev regime - it is a deep hatred for everything connected with Russia, with Russian culture. And of course, Orthodoxy and Christianity in general," Zakharova claimed.
At time of publication, the Ukrainian side and Washington had not commented on the claims or the shelling of Sevastopol.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.