Ukraine: 40 dead, 30 missing, after Russian missile attack on Dnipro residential building
- A missile attack on Saturday hit a nine-storey block of flats; killing 40 people so far, wounding 75 and with 30 still missing
- Rescuers were still looking for dozens more residents; screams for help could be heard hours after the impact from those trapped in the rubble
The death toll from a Russian missile strike in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro rose to 40 on Monday with dozens more missing, making it the deadliest civilian incident of Moscow’s three-month campaign of hurling missiles at cities far from the front.
At least 40 people were killed in the attack in the central city, with 30 still unaccounted for, city official Gennadiy Korban said. He said 75 people were wounded including 14 children.
Ukrainian officials acknowledged little hope of finding anyone else alive in the rubble of Saturday’s attack, but President Volodymyr Zelensky said rescue efforts in the central Ukrainian city would go on “as long as there is even the slightest chance to save lives”.
The Kremlin said on Monday that Russian forces did not target residential buildings in its missile strike against Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the “situation” in Dnipro was the result of Ukrainian counter-missiles and air defence.
About 1,700 people lived in the multi-story 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 September 30 strike in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, according to The Associated Press-Frontline War Crimes Watch project.
Emergency workers said they had heard citizens screaming for help from underneath piles of debris from the nine-storey block of flats in the city and were using moments of silence to help direct their efforts. Freezing temperatures added to rescuers’ concerns.