(Suggested lead: While politicians in capitals around the world negotiate the fate of the Ukrainian people and their own leaders are being exposed in a sweeping corruption scandal, ordinary Ukrainians are paying the price with their lives every night. Still, many remain unwilling to give into Russia. Our Special Correspondent Mariel Müller and her team documented the harrowing escape of Kyiv residents from a missile strike on their homes.)

Lower thirds:

0:03  Report by / Mariel Müller
0:26  Mariel Müller / DW Correspondent, Kyiv
0:51  Illya Martinenko / Kyiv resident
1:06  Yana Miroshnychenko / Kyiv resident
1:53  Mykola Kipanidse / Kyiv resident
2:18  Mykola Kipanidse / Kyiv resident
3:12  Viktoria Poltorak / Kyiv resident
3:34  Yana Miroshnychenko / Kyiv resident

Script:

0.00
7 a.m. We get a call from emergency services: a missile hit an apartment building in Kyiv’s Darnytskyi district.

Fire crews are fighting the flames tearing through homes, people were sleeping in just minutes ago.
 
About a hundred meters away, on this street, a man was walking past, when the missile - intercepted by Ukrainian air defences - struck. He was killed instantly.

0.25
+++ PTC Mariel Müller, Correspondent +++
"This is where long-range cruise missile, as we were told, hit the ground, you can still see some parts smoking there and this is where it bounced off and hit the apartment building in the back where it caused fire in several apartments. And this is what’s left of it. "
+++

0.43
They’re taking it away for further inspection.

Illya was asleep in his apartment when the explosion shattered his window.

0.50
+++SOT Illya Martinenko, resident
"I saw a flame right in front of me, flying fragments. Blood immediately ran down my face."
+++
 
0.57
He was lucky - just a minor injury. 

Yana tells us, she and her mother live on the 9th floor and barely made it out in time.

1.05
+++SOT Yana Miroshnychenko, resident
"My mother is 75 years old and could barely hold on. She was already screaming for help. She started to choke and collapse. If they had taken another minute or two, that would’ve been it. We would have suffocated."
+++

1.20
Like others here, she’s worried about a neighbor she hasn’t been able to find.

1.25
+++SOT Yana Miroshnychenko, resident
"He was on the seventh floor, screaming; I don't know if he was rescued. The fire was literally creeping up on him. [CUT] It's very scary. 
+++

1.34
We’re heading up to see for ourselves - straight into the smoke that burns our lungs.

1.39
+++ PTC Mariel Müller, Correspondent +++
Behind us is the apartment, still a lot of smoke, it’s really hard to breath. This was the living room, the kitchen, everything is completely destroyed. They
extinguished the fire just a few minutes ago. +++

1.52 (starts in OFF)
+++SOT Mykola Kipanidse, resident
It’s disgusting. I’m already an old person, and I want to spend my remaining years in retirement peacefully.
+++

2.04
The next-door neighbor Mykola, has come to check his home. It too is filled with smoke but at least, it isn’t damaged.

2.13
+++SOT Mykola Kipanidse, resident
"There is no light, they turned it off."
+++

2.16
+++SOT Mariel
Do you still feel safe here now?
 
2.18
+++SOT Mykola Kipanidse, resident
"No, I'll wait until tomorrow morning. Usually the shelling starts between 3 and 5 a.m. They deprived me of my joy. Everything feels absolutely meaningless. 
+++

2.34
He’s been following the news from far-off places, where others make decisions about his life.

2.41 (Starts in OFF)
+++SOT Mykola Kipanidse, resident
"We were unlucky with Trump. My opinion of America has worsened in general. It’s so bad. People here won’t surrender. Because to whom and where? They will shoot everyone anyway."
+++

3.00
Back outside, Victoria still can’t grasp what happened.

Even though she sees this on the news every day, she says, it’s hard to believe, it struck her own home this time.

3.12
+++SOT Viktoria Poltorak, resident, female
"There's no time for crying. I asked myself: what needs to be done? You need to run, save yourself, save the cat. Honestly, because of the shock, I don't feel anything right now."
+++

3.24
And even though the killing and destruction has entered its fourth year, giving up is simply not an option for people here.
 
3.33
+++Yana Miroshnychenko, resident
"I believe we must negotiate until all of Ukraine’s conditions are met. So that all the lives that were lost in this war are not in vain. Conditions shouldn’t be dictated by Russia." 
+++
 
3.55
This reflects the sentiment among many Ukrainians: If they surrender now, all those sacrifices would have been for nothing.

End of text: 04:04
End of pix: 04:07