Rescuers on Sunday continued to clear the rubble of a nine-story apartment building that was cut in half by a Russian air strike, as the death toll in the attack in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro rose to one. The previous day had increased to 30 people. The largest loss of life far from the front lines since the beginning of the war.
At least one woman was safely pulled from the rubble. Local officials said the 27-year-old girl was taken to a hospital where she was being treated for severe hypothermia.
Residential buildings are attack late Saturday afternoon as Russia launched dozens of rockets at cities across Ukraine in two waves of strikes that coincided with the Lunar New Year and disrupted the relative peace of recent days.
By Sunday evening, 30 people had been confirmed dead, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service. Local officials said at least 75 people were injured and more than 30 are believed to be still missing.
The attack on the apartment building was one of a series of large-scale attacks on residential areas of Ukraine since Russia launched an all-out invasion in February. Russian attacks on targets such as train stations, theatres, shopping malls and residential areas have resulted in significant loss of civilian life, while shelling of cities and towns has resulted in significant losses of civilian life. Towns near the front lines also caused an increasing number of civilian deaths.
Under international law, intentionally or recklessly attacking civilians and places where civilians may congregate is a war crime.
Local officials said more than 550 people were involved in the rescue operation after 24 hours.
On Sunday morning, five victims pulled from the rubble in Dnipro were placed in body bags in a small lawn next to the destroyed building. A light layer of snow dust began to accumulate on them as hours passed and recovery efforts continued.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s president, said at least 400 people lived in the large apartment building and its surroundings, and 72 apartments were destroyed in the attack. The explosion also shattered the windows of surrounding buildings, forcing many people to evacuate.
In the late afternoon, firefighters continued to search for survivors in the rubble. The air was filled with the sound of cranes and the creaking of glass.
And a sense of routine has come to the area.
Some people huddled around the fire to keep warm in the freezing cold.
A humanitarian tent city has sprung up, with volunteers making bread and distributing tea and coffee to hundreds of rescuers and residents at the scene. Another tent has a mattress, blanket and canvas.
Dump trucks rolled in and out of the area, clearing debris and clearing the streets around the partially collapsed building. Black smoke rose from the tangled debris that used to be several apartments.
Some residents of surrounding buildings damaged in the strike are waiting to strike so they can pack up their belongings. Others picked up what was left and took what they could – no windows in the bone-chilling cold, unable to stay.
Plastic sheets had been taped over some of the windows that were blown away by the blast, and workers were measuring others so they could be re-glazed.
Images of the devastation have caused anger and despair across the country, with one photo from the scene of the attack going viral and particularly striking. It shows a young woman holding a stuffed animal and a golden Christmas wreath as she stands in the rubble of the building, waiting to be rescued.
in one parcel on a verified account on Instagram, the woman named Anastasiia Shvets said her parents are still missing. She described how she escaped unharmed except for a small head wound and bruises on her leg.
“I don’t know what to say, no emotions, I feel nothing but a huge emptiness inside,” she wrote, sharing pictures from her hospital bed. According to Ms. Shvets’ social media accounts, her partner was serving in the Ukrainian army and was killed in a battle four months ago.
Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said the missile that hit the building was a Kh-22 cruise missile, also known as an X-22 missile. Five of these missiles were fired into Ukrainian territory on Saturday, with one hitting a building in Dnipro.
Immediately after the Dnipro attack, pro-Russian news outlets and influential military bloggers argued that the apartment building had been hit by missile fragments after Ukrainian air defenses attempted to intercept it.
But Ukrainian forces were quick to deny that, and evidence from the scene points to a direct attack on the building.
“Ukrainian armed forces have no weapons capable of shooting down this type of missile,” Maliar said, adding that more than 210 missiles of this type have been used in attacks on Ukrainian territory since then. since the Russian invasion in February.
The same missile was used to hit a shopping mall in Kremenchuk in June, kill 18 people.
The Soviet-era missiles weighed about 2,000 pounds, could be fired from long distances, and were used for anti-ship operations. They are also capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
Maliar said the attack showed the need for anti-aircraft missile systems such as the Patriot system, which Ukraine has long lobbied its allies for.
Late last month, President Biden said that the United States would supply Ukraine with Patriot missile systems. Ukrainian forces will begin training on this system in Oklahoma State in the next week.
While the Dnipro continued to grapple with the aftermath of the massive offensive, Russian forces continued to carry out attacks near the front lines in Ukraine on Sunday.
According to the local military government, shelling hit residential buildings south of Kherson city, wounding at least seven people on Sunday. Tymoshenko, an adviser to the president, said an office where Red Cross representatives were working was also attacked. A strike on that site in December killed one person.
Oleksandra Mykolyshyn contribution report.
