Death toll from Russian strike on Ukraine's Dnipro rises to 35
Rescue workers clear rubble from an apartment building which was destroyed by a Russian rocket attack at residential neighbourhood in the southeastern city of Dnipro, Ukraine on Jan 15, 2023. (Photo: AP /Evgeniy Maloletka)
KYIV, Ukraine: The death toll from the weekend Russian missile strike on the apartment building in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro has risen to 35, an official said on Monday (Jan 16) as rescue operations continued.
"As of now, the enemy attack took the lives of 35 residents of the building, including two children. Thirty-nine people were saved, 75 were injured," Dnipropetrovsk regional governor Valentyn Reznichenko said on social media.
He added that the "fate of another 35 residents of the building is unknown" as the search for survivors was continuing nearly 40 hours after the strike.
An earlier toll from rescuers had stood at 30.
About 1,700 people lived in the multi-storey building, with residents saying there were no military facilities at the site.
The reported death toll made it the deadliest attack in one place since a Sep 30 strike in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, according to The Associated Press-Frontline War Crimes Watch project.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday condemned the Russian people's "cowardly silence" over the attack, noting that Ukraine had received messages of sympathy from around the world over "this terror".
"The rescue operation will last as long as there is even the slightest chance to save lives," the Ukrainian leader said.
The strike on the building on Saturday came amid a major barrage of Russian cruise missiles across Ukraine.
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 but Ukraine asserts that its troops are still fighting.
If the 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.
With the grinding war nearing the 11-month mark, the United Kingdom government announced it would deliver tanks to Ukraine, its first donation of such heavy-duty weaponry. Although the pledge of 14 Challenger 2 tanks appeared modest, Ukrainian officials expect it will encourage other Western nations to supply more tanks.
