Rescue workers scrambled to reach survivors under the rubble of a residential building hit by a Russian missile on Saturday, the deadliest attack on civilian infrastructure in months.
Rescue workers continue their search for survivors after a Russian missile hit an apartment building in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Saturday, killing at least 35 people including two children.
The missile slammed into the multi-story residential building on Saturday, shocking the city, which had been considered a relatively safe haven for the displaced. It was one of the deadliest attacks on civilian infrastructure in months.
By Monday morning, the fate of at least 35 people was still unknown, according to local governor Valentyn Mykhaylovych Reznichenko, who added that 39 had been rescued.
The attack, which coincided with the Orthodox New Year, is the worst the city has witnessed since the start of the war last February.
It was one of a series of attacks to hit cities across Ukraine on Saturday, just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed his most senior military officer, General Valery Gerasimov, as the new commander of Russian forces in Ukraine.
Russia also targeted the capital, Kiev, and the northeastern city of Kharkiv during a widespread barrage the same day, ending a two-week lull in the airstrikes it has launched against Ukraine’s power infrastructure and urban centers almost weekly since October.
Russia on Sunday acknowledged the missile strikes but did not mention the Dnipro apartment building. Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians in the war.
Russia fired 33 cruise missiles on Saturday, of which 21 were shot down, according to General Valerii Zaluzhny, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces.
The missile that hit the apartment building was a Kh-22 launched from Russia’s Kursk region, according to the military’s air force command, adding that Ukraine does not have a system capable of intercepting that type of weapon.
In Dnipro, workers used a crane as they tried to rescue people trapped on upper floors of the apartment tower.
Some residents signalled for help with lights on their mobile phones.
“We are fighting for every person,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address on Sunday, “the rescue operation will last as long as there is even the slightest chance to save lives.”
Residents join rescue effort
Ivan Garnuk was in his apartment when the building was hit and said he felt lucky to have survived.
“There are no military facilities here. There is nothing here,” he told AP reporters. “There is no air defence, there are no military bases here. It just hit civilians, innocent people.”
Dnipro residents joined rescue workers at the scene to help clear the rubble.
Others brought food and warm clothes for those who had lost their homes.
“This is clearly terrorism and all this is simply not human,” one local, Artem Myzychenko, said as he cleared rubble.
Claiming responsibility for the missile strikes across Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Sunday that it achieved its goal.
“All designated targets have been hit. The goal of the attack has been achieved,” a ministry statement posted on Telegram said. It said missiles were fired “on the military command and control system of Ukraine and related energy facilities,” and did not mention the attack on the Dnipro residential building.
On Sunday, Russian forces attacked a residential area in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, regional Gov. Yaroslav Yanushevych said in a Telegram post. According to preliminary information, two people were wounded.
Russia’s renewed air attacks came as fierce fighting raged in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk province, where the Russian military has claimed it has control of the small salt-mining town of Soledar. Ukraine asserts its troops are still fighting.
If Russian forces win full control of Soledar it would allow them to inch closer to the bigger city of Bakhmut. The battle for Bakhmut has raged for months, causing substantial casualties on both sides.
Source: TRTWorld and agencies
‘Simply not human’: Search for survivors continue in Dnipro building strike
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