Attack on apartment building in Dnipro: death toll rises to 25


Kyiv, Ukraine
CNN

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the death toll from a Russian missile attack on an apartment building in the Ukrainian city of Dnepr rose to 25 on Sunday, a day after reports of missiles and attacks were heard across the country. Explosion.

Among the dead was a child. At least 73 people were injured in the attack on the nine-story apartment building, including 13 children. Zelensky said 39 people had been rescued so far, including six children, but 43 people were still missing. Search and rescue operations have been carried out “around the clock”.

“We continue to fight for every life,” Zelensky said.

The president added that 72 apartments were destroyed and more than 230 were damaged.

Zelensky had previously said “dozens” of people, including a 3-year-old girl, had been rescued from the building, although most floors were “smashed” in the strike.

Rescuers work at the site of a Russian missile attack in Dnipro, Ukraine, on Saturday.


The Ukrainian air force said the Russian missile fired at the Dnipro apartment complex was a Kh-22 — the same type that struck a busy shopping mall in central Ukraine last summer.

Ukrainian air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said the Kh-22 “was launched from a Tu-22M3 long-range bomber, from areas around Kursk and the Sea of ​​Azov.”

“The missiles were fired a total of five times,” Inat said.

The Kh-22 is an older cruise missile that is less accurate than most modern missiles.

Elsewhere, missiles and explosions were heard everywhere from Lviv in the west; Kharkov in the northeast; Zaporizhia and Dnipro in the southeast; Myokaliv in the south; Department of Kharkov.

Authorities in Kyiv said the “capital had been attacked”. The explosion was heard as early as 6 a.m. local time, according to Oleksi Kuleba, head of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration. Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said the strike hit the city’s east shore, where several power facilities are located. CNN could not immediately verify the exact location of the blast. Thick fog shrouded much of the city.

However, the commander of the Ukrainian army in Kyiv, Alexander Pavlyuk, said the explosion in Kyiv was not caused by a Russian attack.

“The explosion has nothing to do with threats from the air or air defense systems and any military action,” Pavlyuk wrote on the encrypted social media app Telegram. “If there is a threat – you will hear the alarm. The cause of the explosion will be reported separately. ”

Russia’s latest nationwide salvo appears to be targeting critical infrastructure across Ukraine as the Kremlin continues efforts to limit the country’s ability to heat and power electricity during the dead of winter.

On the battlefield, all eyes are on Soledar, a small town of little strategic value, which Russia is trying to retake, hoping to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin a symbolic victory. Multiple units of the Ukrainian military said Soledar remained the scene of “heavy fighting”. The Russian Ministry of Defense claims its military controls the town, a claim Kyiv denies.

After an extensive assessment of the situation on the ground in Ukraine, several Western governments decided to heed Zelensky’s long-standing call to supply Kyiv with modern main battle tanks.

France, Poland and the UK have pledged to soon send tanks to the Ukrainian army, which they will use to protect themselves from Russia. Finland is considering following suit. Britain said it planned to send a dozen Challenger 2 tanks and additional artillery systems. Poland plans to send a company of German-made Leopard tanks, while France will deliver its indigenous AMX 10-RC.

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