  | |
| Date | 21 January 2021 |
|---|---|
| Location | Kharkiv, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine |
| Coordinates | 49°59′43″N36°09′48″E / 49.995160406537394°N 36.16325548929106°E |
| Deaths | 15 |
| Non-fatal injuries | 11 |
On 21 January 2021, a fire broke out at an unregistered nursing home in Kharkiv, Ukraine. [1] The fire killed 15 people and injured 11 others. [2] Nine people were rescued and sent to the hospital. [3]
According to residents of nearby houses, the Golden Time (Ukrainian : Золотий час, romanized: Zolotyi chas) nursing home had operated for about a year at the time of the fire. The building formerly was a drug rehabilitation centre, then it was rented by Baptists and then a porn studio. [4] [5] The nursing home advertised five meals a day, caregivers, placement in 1-5 person wards, and monthly analysis. [6] A daughter of one of the victims said that she paid ₴ 6,500 monthly for the care of her father with dementia. [7] The nursing home housed terminally ill patients. [8]
The fire was declared an oblast-level emergency. [9]
Neighbours rushed to the burning building to save trapped residents after the noticed the smoke. [10]
According to Prosecutor General of Ukraine Iryna Venediktova, the fire was caused by carelessness with electrical heaters. [11] Electric heaters are considered unsafe in Kharkiv due to the inadequate design of electrical infrastructure in that area.
The nursing home had wooden floors and no fire-fighting mechanisms, which contributed to the rapid spread of the fire. [12] A relative of one of the victims said that there was no fire extinguisher in the ground floor lobby, but she did not see the heaters that caused the fire. [13] The prosecutor, Oleksandr Dobroskok, said that there were no fire extinguishers in the building. [14]
The fifteen people that died had apparently been trapped on the second floor, where there were bars on the windows. [15] The victims were suffocated by the smoke. [16] The house was heavily damaged, with much of the second floor apparently gutted. [17] According to Viktor Starovir, one of the survivors, the roof was on fire and some people had to be carried out of the burning building. [18]
Investigators initially considered three possibilities for the cause of the fire: arson, recklessness with fire and electrical appliances, and an electrical short circuit. [19] Iryna Venediktova, the prosecutor general of Ukraine, declared the preliminary cause of the fire was the "careless handling of electric heating devices". [20]
The police chief of Kharkiv, Andrii Rubel, declared that the owner of the nursing home, Slavik Akopian, was remanded to a pre-trial detention centre and that the six other nursing homes that Akopian owned were closed. [21] Akopian appealed to be released under house arrest, citing his age (he was 67 at the time of the trial) and large family (he had four children). The prosecutor, Oleksandr Dobroskok denied his request because Rubel's neglect of fire safety led to a "terrible traged[y]". [22] As of January 2024 [update] , all four defendants in the trial were released on bail. [23]
Kharkiv's acting mayor Ihor Terekhov declared 22 January 2021 a day of mourning. [24]
The Minister of Social Policy, Maryna Lazebna, said that the nursing home did not "operate within the legal framework". [25]
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced an investigation into unregistered care facilities in Kharkiv Oblast [26] , which was conducted by police officers and local officials. [27] It found that 32 more unlicensed nursing homes and drug rehabilitation centres were operating illegally in Kharkiv Oblast. [28]
The Verkhovna Rada approved a bill to increase fines for fire code violations in January 2021 as result of the fire. [29]
Each victim's family received ₴ 10,000 from the Kharkiv City Council, and they also covered all burial and medical costs of the victims. [30]
On 20 February 2024, the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office declared that the nursing home would be demolished because they determined that it was built illegally on land that was not leased. [31]
Ukraine has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 19 times since making its debut in 2003. The current Ukrainian participant broadcaster in the contest is the Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (UA:PBC/Suspilne), which has selected its entrant with the national competition Vidbir in recent years. Ukraine has won the contest three times: in 2004 with "Wild Dances" by Ruslana, in 2016 with "1944" by Jamala, and in 2022 with "Stefania" by Kalush Orchestra, thus becoming the first country in the 21st century and the first Eastern European country to win the contest three times. The 2005 and 2017 contests were held in Kyiv, while the 2023 contest was held in Liverpool, United Kingdom, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
An industrial chemical accident occurred on 6 August 2013 at the private limited company Concern Stirol JSC, part of Ostchem Holding AG, in the city of Horlivka, Ukraine. Ammonia was released in the air and five people were killed and 23 people were injured from exposure to the gas. Of these, 22 people were hospitalized burns and poisoning.
The 2015 Kharkiv bombing occurred on 22 February 2015, when a bomb hit a Ukrainian national unity rally in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, Kharkiv Oblast. The blast killed at least three people and injured another 10, including a boy age 15 and a policeman. On 25 February the death toll rose to four. It was one of many bombings in the cities of the Kharkiv oblast and Odesa oblast.
On 21 July 2020, a hostage situation took place in Lutsk, Volyn Oblast, Ukraine. Maksym Kryvosh seized a BAZ A079 bus and barricaded himself and 13 passengers inside at the Teatralna Square. The crisis was eventually resolved with the release of the hostages and Kryvosh's arrest.
On 25 September 2020, an An-26Sh military transport plane crashed during a training flight in Chuhuiv, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. Of the 27 people on board, one survived. The aircraft was destroyed. The aircraft had tail number 76 and belonged to the 203rd Training Aviation Brigade.
On 24 February 2022, the first day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a military engagement took place in the city of Sumy, located near the Russia–Ukraine border. Ukrainian paratroopers and territorial defense forces began engaging Russian forces within the city, resulting in heavy urban fighting and the destruction of a Russian tank column. That evening, Ukraine's paratroopers were ordered to withdraw from the city, leaving the city's defense to a few thousand local volunteers armed with rifles, limited anti-tank weapons and no armed vehicles or heavy weaponry. After three to four days of failing to enter the city, the Russian military shifted to encircle and bypass the city, and were then subject to guerrilla ambushes.
Lyptsi is a village in the Kharkiv Raion, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. Situated at the point where the Lypets River flows into the Kharkiv River, Lyptsi is close to the border with Russia. It hosts the administration of Lyptsi rural hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine.
Khotimlia is a village in Chuhuiv Raion of Kharkiv Oblast in southern Ukraine, about 46.3 kilometres (28.8 mi) EbN from the centre of Kharkiv city.
The attack to the care house in Stara Krasnianka took place on 11 March 2022 during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On 7 March the Ukrainian armed forces occupied a care house in the village of Stara Krasnianka, near Kreminna, Luhansk region, establishing a firing position and reportedly leaving the patients unevacuated due to the presence of mines. On 11 March 2022 pro-Russian separatist forces attacked the care house with heavy weapons while 71 patients with disabilities and 15 members of staff were still inside. A fire broke out and fifty six civilians died.
The Kharkiv government building airstrike occurred on March 1, 2022, when Russian forces attacked the government administrative building of the Kharkiv oblast in the Kharkiv city.
The Yellow Ribbon is a resistance movement in the occupied territories of Ukraine. Created in April 2022 after the Russian military invasion, the goal of the movement is resisting the Russian occupation of Ukraine.
The Kupiansk civilian convoy shelling was the killing of Ukrainian civilians carried out by the Russian Army on September 25, 2022, on the Kurylivka-Pishchane highway near Kupiansk, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. 26 civilians were killed.
Jooble, stylized as JOOBLE is an international job aggregator and job posting search engine founded in 2006.
Strilecha is a village in Kharkiv Raion (district) in Kharkiv Oblast of Ukraine, located 36.44 kilometres (22.64 mi) north-northeast (NNE) from the centre of Kharkiv. The settlement belongs to Lyptsi rural hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine.
Vladyslav Savchenko is a Ukrainian volunteer, producer, activist, and entrepreneur president of the European Association of Software Engineering (EASE). He is also a television expert in IT matters and crisis management.
The 164th Radio Technical Brigade "Slobidska" is a Brigade of the Ukrainian Air Force concerned with radar operations in Kharkiv Sumy, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia Oblast, an area of about 200 thousand square kilometers and a population of eighteen million. It is subordinated to the Air Command East. It is headquartered in Kharkiv.
The 3rd Operational Assignment Spartan Brigade "Petro Bolbochan" is a brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine. It is a part of the Ukrainian Offensive Guard and was established in 2014 in Kharkiv. It has taken part in multiple engagements throughout the Russo-Ukrainian war and is currently deployed on the frontlines.
The Steel Border Brigade also known as the 15th Mobile Border Guard Detachment "Steel Border" is an assault brigade of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine and part of the Offensive Guard.
