A WEST Cork woman who has dedicated decades of her life to helping the people of Ukraine has described the “horror” of a missile attack that killed 22 people, including five children.

Fiona Corcoran from Fountainstown, who founded the Greater Chernobyl Cause in the aftermath of the nuclear power plant disaster, is demanding justice for Pryluky.

Last month a Russian strike destroyed 30 flats as families slept in the city east of Kyiv.

Three of the children killed were one-year-olds, and one of the boys died with his mother and grandmother, officials said.

More than 50 people were wounded in the attack that also damaged other residential buildings and a youth centre.

Rescue teams spent hours searching for victims in the rubble of a five-storey block of flats.

Fiona, who has worked on the ground with the community in Pryluky and an orphanage there, said a “normal day” became “a day of horror” that ripped families apart.

She told The Southern Star: “We have stood side by side with this community. This commitment has resulted in concrete support: we funded and installed the required ramps and chair lift/elevator at the Pryluky Medical Rehabilitation Centre.

“This work will help to  save lives, giving disabled children a chance to escape danger, not just endure it.

They were not only infrastructure projects, but a statement that every life in Pryluky is important, especially for the most vulnerable.

“The children who call that centre home have no safe place to go. Their lives are a cycle of screaming sirens, mad dashes for cover, explosions that shake their minds.”

Tatiana, head of the Pryluky rehabilitation centre, contacted Fiona in the aftermath of the brutal missile strike recounting the chaotic scenes.

She said: “My husband is there right now, helping to clear the rubble. It’s so frightening… It’s so hard to imagine how many innocent lives have been lost. My heart is breaking.

“The children at our centre are very frightened. We have no electricity or water at the moment. And I’m already thinking about how we can arrange stairs down to the shelter, because it’s very difficult to get all the children downstairs quickly using just one lift.

“I have absolutely no strength or energy left. It is so frightening to go to sleep when you don’t know what the next night will bring. I’m scared for myself, for the children, and for my loved ones.”

Larysa Gerasko, Ukrainian Ambassador to Ireland, revealed that Pryluky is her hometown, adding: “This is not just another city on a map. This is my home. 

“The Russian attack destroyed the Children’s and Youth Creativity Centre, a place I once went to as a child. Seeing it destroyed is deeply painful.”

Ms Gerasko also revealed that the home of her aunt and cousin had been struck while they were inside, with just two walls of the bedroom still standing.

Fiona said she is angry and saddened in equal measure.

She said: “Our ramps and projects are being tested in the most brutal way possible. Without doing more, without installing a second lift and accessible, protected routes right now, children may die not just from missiles but from a world that stood by and did nothing.

“The Greater Chernobyl Cause stands with Pryluky and many areas in war-torn Ukraine in deed as well as word, delivering vital humanitarian aid, vehicles, rebuilding/renovating, and equipping homes for the elderly, children, bomb shelters, ramps, lifts, and hope to Ukraine’s most vulnerable, refusing to give way, no matter how dark the hour.”

Sasha Oleksandr (one year and nine months) was killed in the strike alongside his 37-year-old mother Kateryna Antypenko, and his grandmother Victoria Bondarenko (58). Sasha was also the grandson of a local emergency rescue worker who responded to the scene.

Kyrylo Maksiut (18 months) was killed on the third floor along with his parents Dria (23) and Oleksandr (32).

Serhii was just one year old. Other child victims were named as Maksym (8) and his 12-year-old sister Iryna Ivanchenko. Both died alongside their parents.

Fiona pleaded: “Help us fight for the children of Pryluky, before another name is added to the list of the lost.”

To donate online visit www.greaterchernobylcause.ie.