DNIPRO, UKRAINE (AP) – The death toll from a Russian missile strike on an apartment building in the southeastern city of Dnipro rose to 23 yesterday, the local government reported as rescue workers scrambled to pull survivors from the rubble.
Emergency crews worked through the frigid night at the multi-storey residential building, the site of the worst casualties from a barrage of Russian strikes Saturday on Ukrainian cities.
The attacks, which also targetted the capital, Kyiv, and the northeastern city of Kharkiv, ended a two-week lull in widespread strikes on Ukraine’s power infrastructure and urban centres.
Russia fired 33 cruise missiles on Saturday, of which 21 were shot down, according to the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces General Valeriy Zaluzhny.
In Dnipro, workers used a crane as they tried to rescue people trapped on upper floors of the apartment tower where about 1,700 were living. Some residents signaled for help with lights on their mobile phones.
The Dnipro city government reported yesterday afternoon that at least 72 people were wounded and 43 people were reported missing. It said 39 people were rescued so far.
Ivan Garnuk was in his apartment when the building was hit and said he felt lucky to have survived. He described his shock that the Russians would strike a residential building with no strategic value. “There are no military facilities here. There is nothing here,” he said.
