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Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly summoned the Russian ambassador on Wednesday to condemn the missile attack on an apartment building in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro.
The death toll from Saturday afternoon’s attack now stands at 45 people, including six children, Ukrainian officials said Wednesday.
“We do not accept the brutality of Russia’s recent attacks on civilians,” Joly said at a press conference on Wednesday.
The nine-story apartment tower that immediately hit home is about 1,700 residents and stands between two identical buildings. About 400 people lost their homes, 72 apartments were damaged and another 236 were seriously damaged, Dnipro City Council said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the attack “despicable, despicable and unacceptable.”
“Canada condemns this violence in the strongest terms – we stand with the people of Ukraine, and we will continue to make sure they have the support they need,” Trudeau said in a tweet on Saturday.
This is the fourth time Ambassador Oleg Stepanov has been summoned by Joly in the past year.
Asked about Monday’s attack, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian military did not target residential buildings and suggested the Dnipro building was hit by Ukrainian air defense actions.
The attack on the building comes as Russia launches more cruise missiles into Ukraine. Ukraine’s military said Sunday it had no means of intercepting the type of Russian missile that struck residential buildings in Dnipro.
Joly said Canada wants to work with its allies to hold Russia accountable for the Dnipro and other attacks in Ukraine.
“We will ensure that those responsible for the terrible scene in … Ukraine answered [for] crime,” he said.
Joly met with British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development James Cleverly in Toronto on Wednesday. Both sides are committed to working together to support Ukraine.
“We must fulfill our commitment to support Ukraine until it succeeds,” Cleverly said.
Earlier Wednesday, Defense Minister Anita Anand announced that Canada would donate 200 Canadian-made armored personnel carriers to Ukraine.
Last week, Canada announced it would spend $406 million to buy the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System from the United States to donate to Ukraine. Wednesday’s armored vehicle announcement, combined with promised air defenses, make up for the $500 million in military aid Trudeau announced in the fall.
Cleverly also praised Canada for committing a contingent of troops to Operation Unifier, a British flagship. training program for Ukrainian soldiers.
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