Death toll in Russian missile attack on Dnipro apartment building rises to 21 By Reuters

By Herbert Villarraga

DNIPRO, Ukraine (Reuters) – The loss of life toll from a Russian missile strike on an condominium constructing within the Ukrainian metropolis of Dnipro climbed to 21 on Sunday, as rescue staff raced to dig by means of an enormous pile of particles looking for survivors.

At the least 35 individuals have been nonetheless lacking and 73 have been injured, Mykola Lukashuk, head of the regional council, wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

“Burn in hell, Russian murderers,” he wrote.

The constructing in Dnipro, a metropolis in east-central Ukraine, was partly destroyed throughout a sequence of assaults on Saturday, Russia’s largest wave of strikes in two weeks.

On the bottom, preventing was nonetheless centered on the cities of Soledar and Bakhmut within the japanese Donbas area.

Rescuers toiled by means of the evening trying to find survivors. On Sunday morning, they could possibly be seen punching and kicking by means of heaped mounds of smashed concrete and twisted metallic.

In a press release on Sunday on the strikes yesterday, the Russian defence ministry didn’t point out Dnipro as a particular goal.

“All assigned objects have been hit. The targets of the strike have been achieved,” it stated.

Emergency staff stated that they had heard individuals screaming for assist from beneath piles of particles and have been utilizing moments of silence to assist direct their efforts.

“Two rooms on the second ground stay virtually intact however buried,” Oleh Kushniruk, a deputy director of the regional department of Ukraine’s State Emergency Service, informed Ukrainian tv.

Lukashuk, the regional council chief, stated 38 individuals had been rescued as of Sunday morning, together with six kids.

Ukraine’s high army command stated on Sunday that Russia launched three air strikes, 57 missile strikes and carried out 69 assaults from heavy weapon rocket salvo methods on Saturday. Ukrainian forces shot down 26 rockets.

A spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern command additionally informed native tv on Sunday that Russia had fired solely half of the cruise missiles it had deployed to the Black Sea throughout Saturday’s assaults.

“This means that they nonetheless have sure plans,” stated the spokesperson, Natalia Humeniuk. “We should perceive that they will nonetheless be used.”

The strikes on Saturday additionally hit crucial infrastructure in Kyiv and different locations. Officers warned this could limit energy provide for the capital and huge swathes of the nation over the following few days.

Russia, which invaded Ukraine final February, has been pounding the nation’s power infrastructure with missiles and drones since October, inflicting sweeping blackouts and disruptions to central heating and operating water.

APPEAL FOR MORE WEAPONS

In his night video deal with on Saturday, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy issued a recent enchantment to his Western allies for extra weaponry to finish “Russian terror” and assaults on civilian targets.

Saturday’s assault got here as Western powers contemplate sending battle tanks to Kyiv and forward of a gathering of Ukraine’s allies in Ramstein in Germany subsequent Friday, the place governments will announce their newest pledges of army assist.

On Saturday, Britain adopted France and Poland with guarantees of additional weapons, saying it might ship 14 of its Challenger 2 major battle tanks in addition to different superior artillery assist within the coming weeks.

The primary despatch of Western-made tanks to Ukraine is more likely to be seen by Moscow as escalation of the battle. The Russian Embassy in London stated the tanks would drag out the confrontation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion on Feb. 24, saying Kyiv’s ties with the West threatened Russia’s safety. Ukraine and its allies name it an unprovoked conflict to grab territory.

The battle has killed 1000’s, displaced thousands and thousands and turned many cities into rubble.

BATTLE FOR SOLEDAR

In Ukraine’s japanese Donbas area – the focus of Russia’s drive to seize extra territory – Ukraine’s forces have been battling to maintain management of the small salt-mining city of Soledar.

Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesperson for Ukraine’s japanese command, informed Ukrainian tv that Russian forces had shelled the realm round Soledar and Bakhmut 234 instances previously 24 hours.

Russia stated on Friday that its forces had taken management of Soledar, which had a pre-war inhabitants of 10,000, in what can be a minor advance however one that might have psychological significance for Russian forces, who’ve seen months of battlefield setbacks.

Ukraine insisted on Saturday that its forces have been battling to carry the city, however officers acknowledged the state of affairs was troublesome, with road preventing raging and Russian forces advancing from varied instructions.

“Our troopers are continuously repelling enemy assaults, day and evening,” Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar stated on Saturday. “The enemy is sustaining heavy losses however is continuous to hold out the legal orders of their command.”

Reuters couldn’t instantly confirm the state of affairs in Soledar.

Putin stated what he calls the particular army operation was exhibiting a constructive development and that he hoped Russian troopers would ship additional positive factors after Soledar.

“The dynamic is constructive,” he informed Rossiya 1 state tv. “Every thing is growing inside the framework of the plan of the Ministry of Defence and the Normal Workers.”