Russian missile attack kills six in Ukrainian president’s hometown

At least six people were killed in a Russian missile strike on an apartment building in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih on Tuesday, officials said, Reuters reported.

Residents sobbed outside the burnt-out apartment block, from which smoke billowed after the early-morning attack on the central Ukrainian city. Officials said at least 25 people were wounded and others could still be trapped under the rubble.

Olha Chernousova, who lives in the five-storey apartment block, said she was woken by an explosion which sounded like thunder and thrown out of her bed by a violent blast wave.

“I ran to my front door, but it was very hot there… the smoke was heavy,” she said.

“What could I do? I was sat on the balcony, terrified I would lose consciousness. Nobody came for a long time… I thought I would have to jump into a tree.”

Around her, the street and courtyard were strewn with glass and bricks. At least five cars were ruined husks.

Ihor Lavrenenko, who lives in a different part of the building, said he heard two blasts.

“I woke up from the first bang, a weak one, and went straightaway onto the balcony. Then the second one erupted overhead, I watched from my balcony as hot debris fell,” he said.

Rescue operations were underway in the apartment building and in a destroyed warehouse, regional governor Serhiy Lysak said on the Telegram messaging app.

City mayor Oleksandr Vilkul confirmed at least six people had been killed. In an earlier post, he had said three people were killed, at least seven were believed trapped under the rubble and that 25 others were wounded.

ZELENSKIY CONDEMNS ATTACK

“Russian killers continue their war against residential buildings, ordinary cities and people,” Zelenskiy, who was born in Kryvyi Rih, said on Telegram.

Russia did not immediately comment on the attack. It has repeatedly struck cities across Ukraine since its full-scale invasion in February 2022 though it denies targeting civilians.

Moscow has also accused Ukraine of cross-border shelling as Kyiv carries out counter-offensive operations. The governor of Kursk in Russia said on Tuesday several houses had been damaged and power supplies disrupted in two villages in the region near the border.

During the early hours of Tuesday, air raid sirens blared across the whole of Ukraine, with Kyiv’s military officials saying air defence forces destroyed all Russian missiles targeting the Ukrainian capital.

Ukraine’s top military command said that air forces destroyed 10 out of 14 cruise missiles Russia launched on Ukraine and one of the four Iranian-made drones.