What was happening in the terminal at the time of the impact? Was there an air raid alert?
We spent half a day today talking to our people in recovery and asking everyone this question. The impact was at 22:45-22:50, this is the time when the cargo was already collected and prepared for shipment. About 15 seconds passed between the air raid alarm and the explosion. The strike was a S-300 missile, which reaches Kharkiv in 40 seconds. All the guys said that they saw the air raid signal, started moving towards our bunker in the terminal. But you have to walk several dozens of meters to reach it, so there was no chance to run to it. Everyone who was inside the terminal — 33 people — were caught by the explosion.
What exactly were the parcels at the terminal?
Consumers, when they come to Nova Post branch, see whatʼs in the shipments. These are civilian cargoes, cargoes of private individuals, customers of online stores. A lot of humanitarian aid which charitable funds send. But there is no question of any weapon that Russian propagandists are talking about now.
Has the company already calculated the damage from the impact?
Frankly speaking, no. We set priorities like this: the first is the dead and wounded. The second is parcels that can be saved. We spent the whole day dismantling this almost destroyed terminal. There are many parcels for which we will fight. We are now repackaging them and will send them to our customers. We counted approximately 2,700 such parcels. And after that we will calculate the losses of Nova Post.
Is the terminal completely destroyed?
Such a conclusion can be made only by specialists after a construction examination. We are optimistic that we will be able to restore this building. I donʼt know how much it will cost us. Letʼs see.
Nova Post terminal in the Kharkiv region after being hit by a Russian S-300 missile.
Getty Images / «Babel'»
How many parcels were there in total?
We do not know the exact number yet, but it is more than three thousand shipments. I think several hundred parcels are lost. We will refund their advertised cost to all customers and will endeavor to do so as soon as possible.
Was the companyʼs property insured?
Of course. But in the case of missile attack, the insurance does not work, so now it is only about health insurance for employees.
And have people already applied for compensation for the cost of parcels?
There have been no mass appeals yet, but there have been isolated cases.
How do you support victims?
We decided to help financially the families of the victims — 60 thousand hryvnias each. The company also takes care of all funeral payments. One of the dead boys recently had a child, so we decided that we will pay her 10,000 hryvnias a month until she comes of age and give her a $12,500 education scholarship. All the wounded will receive treatment at the expense of Nova Post. We will also send the injured on leave for rehabilitation, including psychological one.
Do you plan to revise anything in the safety rules for employees after this missile strike?
We discussed that too. I cannot say now what exactly we have decided, but there will definitely be changes in the mode of operation of the terminals, especially in such areas as Kharkiv, because there are already certain statistics of hits there. We are thinking about how to make something like Israeli capsules in residential buildings in the terminals. They are needed precisely for cases when there is no time even to run to the shelter. We already have some experience, because we have already made similar capsules in our branches in Kharkiv and Mykolaiv. In the branch in Kharkiv, there is a reinforced concrete capsule in the yard that protects both employees and customers.
Will you now control more strictly so that the departments do not work during an air alert?
Yes, we will, especially in cities where ballistic missiles quickly reach.
So that our defenders can shoot down these missiles, support the donation campaign of Nova Post and Return Alive Foundation on air defense means.