Russian shelling destroyed the home of Khrystyna Starykova, Ukraine’s 19-year-old Eurovision contestant, the singer announced on social media.
Starykova shared pictures and videos displaying the destruction of her apartment block in the city of Myrnograd, in the Donetsk region.
The singer was in Sweden at the time of the Russian attack, practising for her performance with the band Ziferblat. The band will play the song Bird of Pray at the upcoming competition, about Ukrainians separated from their loved ones over the war.
“Home,” she wrote on one of the posts with a broken heart emoji. “I dreamed so much of returning home.”“I want to show what a strong people we are,” she wrote.
Russian attacks destroy homes
This is the second material tragedy experienced by the Starykova family as a result of the Russian invasion, as her grandmother lost her home four months ago.
"Four months ago, my grandmother lost her home - it was just such a big hole," she told Ukrainian broadcaster Suspilne. "Then my aunt lost the roof over her head."
"I understood that maybe I could be the next one, and unfortunately, it happened. It's very terrible news. I had really hoped to go back."