Today’s Russian attack on a residential building in Kryvyi Rih, in Ukraine’s southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region, has left six people dead and dozens injured, according to a new statement from local authorities.
“Unfortunately, six people have already died. The rescue operation is ongoing,” the head of the Kryvyi Rih military administration, Oleksandr Vilkul, said on the social network Telegram, quoted by Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform.
The Ukrainian Interior Ministry announced that emergency teams had rescued 12 people.
The attack occurred before dawn (local time), when a missile hit a five-storey building.
The initial tally was three dead and 25 injured, but local authorities admitted there may be more fatalities under the rubble.
The industrial city of Kryvyi Rih, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zalenskey was born, had more than 612,000 inhabitants before the war started by Russia on February 24, 2022.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack on the social network Twitter, and promised that the perpetrators will be held accountable.
“Russian murderers continue their war against residential buildings, cities and ordinary people. Unfortunately, there are dead and wounded. The rescue operation in Kryvyi Rih continues,” Zelensky said.
“Russian terrorists will never be forgiven and will be held accountable for every missile they launch,” he added.
“Unfortunately, they are hitting residential buildings,” the spokeswoman was quoted as saying by Ukrinform.
Ukrainian forces have an ongoing counteroffensive in the south and east of the country that Zelensky admitted on Monday was proving difficult but making progress.
According to Zelensky, the operation has allowed them to regain control of seven localities that had been taken by Russian troops.
The counter-offensive was made possible by arms supplied by Ukraine’s Western allies.
The information released by both sides on the course of the war cannot be independently verified immediately.
The conflict in Ukraine has plunged Europe into what is regarded as the most serious security crisis since the Second World War (1939-1945).
The number of civilian and military casualties is unknown, but several sources, including the UN, have admitted it will be high.
As well as supplying arms to Kiev, Western allies have imposed economic sanctions on Russia to try to curb its ability to fund the war effort.
*with Lusa
