At least 12 persons died in a Russian missile strike on a nine-storey apartment in Ukraine’s Dnipro city on Saturday, Reuters reported, citing officials.
The attack was part of a series of strikes launched by Russia targeting energy infrastructure across Ukraine.
Rescue operations continue in east-central city of Dnipro as officials fear residents are still alive under the debris. “We stop our work now and then to keep silence and we hear people scream from underneath the rubble,” Dnipro Deputy Mayor Mikhailo Lysenko said in a video message.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office, said 64 residents have been injured and 37 rescued. Zelenskyy said the second to the ninth floors of the building have collapsed due to the strike.
Away from Dnipro, Russian strikes also hit critical infrastructure in Kyiv and other cities. Ukraine’s Energy Minister German Galushchenko said that the Russian attack could make it difficult in the coming days for greeting electricity and water supply.
Galushchenko added that six energy infrastructure were damaged in the Russian offensive on Saturday.
Meanwhile Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described the Russian attack on residential buildings as “despicable, abhorrent and completely unacceptable”.
“Canada condemns this violence unequivocally – we stand with the people of Ukraine, and we’ll continue to make sure they have the support they need,” he tweeted.
Moscow has repeatedly denied targeting civilians in its missile strikes. But President Vladimir Putin had admitted that Russian forces have been targeting Ukraine’s critical energy facilities.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, triggering the most deadly conflict in Europe since World War II. Moscow claims it is a special military operation that is necessary to prevent Kyiv from being used as a platform for Western aggression. But Ukraine and its Western allies say it is an imperial-style war of occupation.
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The Russian invasion has brought Ukraine and the West closer than ever before
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