Russian missile smashes Ukrainian apartment building to claim 12 lives

Russian air strikes have dealt a critical blow to an apartment block in Ukraine, with at least 18 citizens dead. In the meantime, the British government has pledged as the first Western country across the world to provide Ukraine with its core tanks.

A nine-story apartment building in the city of Dnipro, Ukraine, was destroyed by a Russian rocket strike on Saturday (local time), taking at least 18 lives, according to Reuters’ latest reports. It has been reported that 40 out of 73 survivors are in hospital. The death toll may likely increase as the Ukrainian authorities assume that around 40 citizens have been stuck under the rubble.

Reuters says that rescuers are working desperately to reach those left waiting for help, under the remains even in subzero weather. The city’s deputy mayor Mykhailo Lysenko announced that rescuers are waiting for any signals for help to come up through the remains with heavy equipment turned off, considering that some survivors under the rubble have sent text messages.

Added to this, The Associated Press said air-raid sirens went off across major Ukrainian cities such as Kyiv and Kharkiv on Saturday. Following a series of Russian air strikes on major infrastructure networks, Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko described the coming days as one of the hardest periods in terms of energy supply, projecting that the country will inevitably suffer shortages of power, heating, and water supply during winter.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised on Saturday to supply Ukraine with 14 Challenger-2 tanks and 30 AS90 artillery systems, making it the first Western government to provide tanks to Ukraine. Previously, Poland pledged to send 14 German Leopard-2 battle tanks.


Sung-Hwi Kang yolo@donga.com