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The death toll from a Russian missile attack on an apartment building in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro rose to 21 on Sunday, as rescue workers dug through piles of rubble to search for survivors.
At least 35 people are still missing and 73 injured, Mykola Lukashuk, head of the regional council, wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
“Burn in hell, Russian murderer,” he wrote.
Buildings in Dnipro, a city in east-central Ukraine, were partially damaged in a series of attacks on Friday, the biggest wave of attacks in Russia in two weeks. There was no immediate comment from Moscow on the attack.
People screamed in the pile of debris
Rescuers worked hard through the night searching for survivors. On Sunday morning, he could be seen punching and kicking through piles of broken concrete and twisted metal.
Emergency workers said they heard people screaming for help from under the pile of debris and used the moment of silence to help direct their efforts.
“Two rooms on the second floor remained intact but buried,” Oleh Kushniruk, deputy director of the regional branch of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, told Ukrainian television.
Lukashuk, head of the regional council, said 38 people had been rescued since Sunday morning, including six children.
Ukraine’s top military command said on Sunday that Russia had launched three airstrikes, 57 missile strikes and carried out 69 strikes from its heavy-armed rocket salvo system on Friday. Ukrainian forces fired 26 rockets.
A spokesman for Ukraine’s southern command also told local television on Sunday that Russia had shot down only half of the cruise missiles it sent into the Black Sea during Saturday’s attack.
“It shows that they still have certain plans,” spokeswoman Natalia Humeniuk said. “We need to know if it still works.”
Zelenskyy issued a new appeal for arms
Saturday’s attack also hit critical infrastructure in Kiev and other places. Officials warned that this would limit power supply to the capital and large areas of the country for the next few days.
Russia, which invaded Ukraine last February, has been pounding the country’s energy infrastructure with missiles and drones since October, causing sweeping blackouts and disruptions to central heating and running water.
In a video speech late on Saturday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a fresh appeal to Western allies for more weapons to stop “Russian terror” and attacks on civilian targets.
Monday’s attack comes as Western powers are considering sending battle tanks to Kyiv and ahead of a meeting of Ukraine’s allies in Ramstein in Germany next Friday, where the government will announce the latest pledge of military support.
On Saturday, Britain followed France and Poland in pledging further weapons, saying it would send 14 Challenger 2 main battle tanks as well as other advanced artillery support next week.
The first delivery of Western-made tanks to Ukraine may be seen by Moscow as an escalation of the conflict. The Russian Embassy in London said the tanks would drag out the confrontation.
Fight for Soledar
Germany is now expected to come under pressure to follow suit as Kyiv continues to request advanced military equipment.
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion on February 24, saying Kyiv’s ties with the West threatened Russia’s security. Ukraine and its allies have declared an unprovoked war to seize the region.
The conflict has killed thousands, displaced millions and left many cities in ruins.
In Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region – the focal point of Russia’s drive to seize more territory – Ukrainian forces are fighting for control of the small salt-mining town of Soledar.
Russia said on Friday that its troops had taken control of the town, which had a pre-war population of 10,000, in a small but significant psychological advance for Russian forces, which have suffered setbacks on the battlefield.
Ukraine insisted on Saturday that its forces were struggling to hold the city, but officials admitted the situation was difficult, as street fighting raged and Russian forces advanced from multiple directions.
“Our soldiers are constantly repelling enemy attacks, day and night,” Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said on Saturday. “The enemy suffered heavy losses but continued to carry out criminal orders from his command.”
Reuters could not immediately verify the situation at Soledar.
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