Ukraine reeling from deadliest strike on civilian building in months
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Emergency workers on Jan. 15 searching rubble for survivors of a Russian missile attack on an apartment building in Dnipro, Ukraine. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
The death toll from a Russian missile strike on an apartment building in the Dnipro, central Ukraine, over the weekend has risen to at least 40, including three children, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said in a post on Telegram on Monday morning.
The latest: The emergency service said the missile strike also injured at least 75 people, including 14 children, and that 46 other people were reported as missing.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address Sunday that a 15-year-old girl was among those killed in the attack.
What they're saying: Zelensky shared a video online of the destroyed Dnipro apartment building, vowing to find and punish "everyone involved" in the strike that AP reports was the deadliest attack on a civilian building for months.
The big picture: Russian forces also targeted and hit Ukraine's energy infrastructure facilities through a wider missile barrage over the weekend, Ukrainian officials said.
- Explosions were reported in other cities across Ukraine later Saturday, including an attack in Kyiv, the Washington Post reports.
- Putin's forces have repeatedly struck residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure, like hospitals and cultural sites, throughout their illegal invasion of Ukraine.
By the numbers: The United Nations Human Rights Office estimates that 6,952 Ukrainian civilians have been killed and 11,144 have been injured since the start of Russia's invasion, though it stressed that its count was likely far lower than the actual figures.
- Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko said Saturday that energy infrastructure in six Ukrainian regions was damaged in the attacks, per Reuters.
What we're watching: "Due to the shelling in the majority of the regions, emergency (power) cut-offs are being introduced. The coming days will be difficult," Galushchenko said.
Zoom out: Ukrainian forces began a weeks-long expanded, large-scale U.S. military training program in "combined arms" warfare in Germany Sunday.
- British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told Zelensky in a phone call Saturday that the United Kingdom would provide Ukraine with more military equipment.
- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged in an online post condemning the attack on Dnipro his country would continue to make sure that Ukraine had the support they need.
Go deeper: UN nuclear watchdog to establish "continuous presence" in Ukraine
Editor's note: This article has been updated with additional details throughout.
