UPDATES WITH LATEST NUMBER OF PEOPLE INJURED; REVISES HEADLINE, DECK
By Burc Eruygur
***ISTANBUL (AA) – Ukraine said on Monday that at least 10 people were injured in a Russian missile attack in the country’s Dnipropetrovsk region.
Dnipropetrovsk Governor Serhiy Lysak said in a statement on Telegram that the Russian attack targeted a five-story building in the city of Kryvyi Rih, destroying apartments between the first and fifth levels.
***Preliminary reports indicated that four people were injured in the attack, but Lysak later reported that the number has risen to 11, three of which are still hospitalized.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed on X that the attack was conducted with missiles, and that search and rescue efforts are underway as people may still be trapped under the rubble.
“Every day, every night, Russia unleashes the same terror. More and more civilian objects are being targeted. Russia only wants to continue the war, and each of its strikes negates any claims of diplomacy from Russia,” Zelenskyy said.
He reiterated Ukraine’s need for weapons to defend itself against Russian airstrikes, as well as stronger global support to make diplomacy “real and effective.”
“Without principled decisions and strong support for Ukraine, Russia will have no motive to pursue peace and will only continue choosing new targets,” Zelenskyy added.
However, the Russian Defense Ministry in Moscow claimed in a statement that its forces damaged military airfield infrastructure, workshops, storage facilities, a missile testing site, and a logistics center of the Ukrainian Armed Forces during airstrikes, without specifically mentioning the residential building in Kryvyi Rih.
Independent confirmation of one side's claim and counterclaim by another is difficult owing to the security situation in eastern Ukraine.