The death toll from a Russian missile strike in the southeastern city of Dnipro rose to 29 on Sunday as first responders picked through the rubble of an apartment building looking for survivors and bodies.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at least 73 people were injured Saturday when the explosions smashed through all nine floors of the building that housed an estimated 1,700 people.
"It was possible to save dozens of people, wounded, traumatized," Zelenskyy said. "Among them are children; the youngest girl is 3 years old."
More than 20 of the 30 missiles launched toward Ukrainian targets were shot down, Zelenskyy said. The attacks also targeted the capital, Kyiv, and the northeastern city of Kharkiv. Energy infrastructure again took a pounding, a common theme for Russian attacks in recent months.
“This is clearly terrorism and all this is simply not human,” local Artem Myzychenko, said as he cleared rubble.
Zelenskyy said repair crews would work around the clock to restore power generation .
"The enemy will receive our answer (to the strikes) on the battlefield for sure," Zelenskyy said. "Our soldiers will do that."
FATALITIES, TANKS:Fatalities reported after Russian missile attacks in Ukraine; UK pledges tanks: Updates
Other developments:
- Russian President Vladimir Putin said his "special military operation" is going according to plan. In an interview with the Rossiya-1 TV, he said "the dynamics are positive. Everything is developing within the plan of the defense ministry and the general staff."
- On Sunday, Russian forces attacked a residential area in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, wounding two people, regional Gov. Yaroslav Yanushevych said in a Telegram post.
- Russia’s Defense Ministry said Sunday that it achieved its goal in Saturday's strikes. It said missiles were fired “on the military command and control system of Ukraine and related energy facilities” and did not mention residential strikes and deaths.
3 Russian soldiers die in munitions blast
Three Russian soldiers were killed and 15 injured in a munitions explosion in the village of Tonenkoye in Russia’s southern Belgorod region, state-run TASS reported Sunday. The outlet said a preliminary probe indicated the blast was likely caused by munitions mishandling.
Russia's Ren-TV said the blast occurred at a community center at or near a military base after a soldier mishandled a hand grenade, causing a fire. The TV station said the victims were new draftees. Fifteen people were evacuated from nearby homes in Belgorod, a city of 340,000 about 25 miles north of the Ukraine border.
Britain providing training for Ukraine recruits
The British Defense Ministry said it will begin training thousands of new volunteer recruits who have joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine with little to no previous military experience. The goal is to teach skills "required to survive and be effective in front-line combat" the ministry said in a statement. The course, which is based on training provided to the U.K. army reserve infantry, will take place over a minimum of a five weeks in Britain. It will provide the soldiers with instruction on weapons handling, offensive and defensive tactics, rules of armed conflict, range activity and marksmanship, patrol techniques, battlefield first aid and cybersecurity awareness.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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