An AP photographer captures the moment a Russian drone dives into a residential district in Kyiv

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Efrem Lukatsky has worked for The Associated Press, based in Kyiv, for more than 30 years. He covered the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and wars in Transnistria, Chechnya, Georgia, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Gaza Strip.

From Ukraine, he covered the 2014 Revolution of Dignity, the Russia-Ukraine war of 2014 and Russia’s full-scale invasion since 2022.

Here’s what he had to say about this extraordinary photo.

Why this photo?

Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities have become more concentrated and systematic, and even Kyiv, the capital and one of the most protected cities in Ukraine, cannot fully handle the volume of simultaneous attacks.

In addition to drone barrages that can involve 500 or more Iranian-designed Shahed drones, raids are often accompanied by heavy missile strikes. Many of these drones and missiles simply crash into residential buildings.

That’s what happened on Tuesday, June 17, when a ballistic missile made a direct hit with an apartment building in the city’s Solomianskyi district, punching through every floor from the ninth down to the basement. While I was photographing the damage, another drone barrage hit the area, and I was able to get this shot.

How I made this photo

At 2:30 a.m., my house started shaking from explosions across the city. I rushed out to find a good vantage point to see the smoke rising when I heard about the rocket strike on the apartment building. I went there immediately.

Rescue workers were putting out fires and digging through the rubble of the collapsed building to find the injured, but the rescuers ran from the site when the new round of drones hit. You couldn’t see them, but you could hear the piercing whine as they accelerated just before impact.

I ran toward a blast down the street when suddenly I heard the sound of another incoming drone. I looked up and clearly saw its flight path. I should’ve taken cover, but the street was wide and empty — no shelter, only the pavement. I needed two seconds to get a sharp shot.

Why this photo works

We later learned that 23 people were killed in that building while they slept in their beds. For me, it’s vital to find the words and make the photographs that might bring this madness closer to its end, and this photo of a deadly drone careening into a residential area expresses the terror Ukrainian civilians face every day of this war.

For more extraordinary AP photography, click here.