Ukraine’s First Lady has condemned Vladimir Putin for “mercilessly shooting at civilians” following a “deliberate” rocket attack on an apartment building that killed three people and injured at least four.
The Russian missile hit the five-story building in the southern Ukraine city of Zaporizhzhia in the early hours of today, leaving a devastating image.
Eleven people were rescued from the part of the building that collapsed, the state emergency service said in a statement.
But firefighters are still looking for people who may be trapped under the rubble of the building, which was “almost completely destroyed” during the strike, officials said.
Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska condemned the attack, saying Vladimir Putin’s troops “mercilessly fired on civilians.”
A Russian missile struck a five-story building in Ukraine’s southern city of Zaporizhzhia today, killing three people and injuring at least four, Ukrainian police said.
Rescuers evacuate a pregnant woman Anna, 27, from a residential building badly damaged by a Russian missile strike, amid the Russian attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, on Thursday
Rescue workers are working on the site of a residential building badly damaged by a Russian missile strike in Zaporizhia
Local resident Yurii holds hands with his pregnant relative Anna, 27, after she was rescued from a residential building badly damaged by a Russian missile strike
“Zaporizhzhia bravely opposes the Russian aggressor,” Zelenska wrote on Twitter. “In revenge, he shoots mercilessly at civilians.
“Tonight – a deliberate attack in a high-rise building. There are just not three floors, people died.
“The search under the rubble is ongoing. My condolences to the victims. We will not forgive this.’
It came after Ukraine said it had survived a months-long winter onslaught of Russian attacks on water and energy infrastructure as Wednesday marked the first day of spring.
But Kiev was under intense pressure in eastern Ukraine, as Moscow said it had downed a “massive” barrage of Ukrainian drones launched on the Crimean peninsula annexed by the Kremlin in 2014.
Since October, Russia has been targeting key facilities in Ukraine with missiles and drones, disrupting the water, heating and electricity supplies of millions of people.
President Volodymyr Zelensky praised the Ukrainians for surviving a winter marked by systematic Russian attacks on energy facilities, plunging millions into darkness and cold.
“We won this winter. It was a very difficult period, and every Ukrainian has experienced this difficulty, but we were still able to provide power and heat to Ukraine,” Zelensky said in his daily speech.
Rescuers evacuate a local man from a residential building badly damaged by a Russian missile strike in Zaporizhzhia on Thursday
Ukrainian State Emergency Service firefighters inspect a damaged house after Russian shelling in Zaporizhzhia on Thursday
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba hailed the first day of spring as another “great defeat” for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
“We survived the most difficult winter in our history. It was cold and dark, but we were unbreakable,” Kuleba said in a statement.
Aid agencies had warned at the start of the winter that the targeted campaign would force a new wave of migration into Europe and that Ukraine’s priority would be to ‘survive’ through the freezing months.
The Kremlin said Kiev was responsible for the civilian suffering caused by the massive blackouts because it had refused to capitulate to Moscow’s wartime demands.
But the power grid is stabilizing and Ukrainian energy supplier Ukrenergo said on Wednesday there had been “no power shortages” for more than two weeks.
“Engineers are also making repairs to all power system facilities previously damaged by Russian missile and drone strikes,” it said.
The war in Ukraine has left Europe questioning its heavy dependence on Russian oil and gas amid waves of sanctions aimed at curtailing Moscow’s ability to fund its military from energy revenues.
The EU also won, and contrary to Moscow’s laughter, it did not freeze without Russian gas. One piece of advice to Russia: choke on your gas and choke on your missiles,” Kuleba added in the statement.
Rescuers and paramedics evacuated a woman from a residential building destroyed after a rocket attack in Zaporizhzhia on Thursday
Near Bakhmut – the site of the longest and bloodiest battle of the Russian invasion – AFP journalists saw Ukrainian troops blocking roads to the embattled salt mining town, raising the specter of a possible Ukrainian withdrawal.
But Sergiy Cherevaty, a spokesman for the Ukrainian armed forces deployed in the east of the country, said “no such decision had been taken so far.”
“Heavy fighting is going on over our Bakhmut,” said the head of the city’s military administration, Oleksiy Reva.
The city, which once had a population of about 70,000, has seen a gradual exodus and now only 4,500 people remain, Reva said.
Zelensky said Tuesday that fighting around Bakhmut is “increasing.”
“Russia doesn’t count people at all and sends them to constantly attack our positions,” he added.
Elsewhere in the Donetsk region, the cost of the fighting was evident at a field hospital where AFP journalists watched as wounded Ukrainian soldiers were treated.
Ukrainian soldiers from the 80th Brigade fire targets with a mobile howitzer outside Bakhmut, Ukraine, on Tuesday.
Ukrainian 80th Brigade soldiers prepare to fire targets from a mobile howitzer outside Bakhmut on Tuesday
“You remember the extraordinary cases of fatal injuries. Partially severed heads, ruptured or severed head vessels, where you cannot help the patient. That’s what you remember,” says Igor, a 28-year-old anesthesiologist.
The Ukrainian presidency said on Wednesday that three civilians were killed and another four injured in Russian attacks in the Donetsk region.
A one-year-old and his mother were injured in shelling in the southern Kherson region, according to local authorities.
The announcement by the Russian Defense Ministry that it had shot down or disabled 10 Ukrainian drones targeting Crimea came a day after Russian officials said they had shot down three more over southern regions of the country and nearby from Moscow.
“An attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out a massive drone strike against the facilities of the Crimean peninsula has been prevented,” the defense ministry said.
Ten drones were “shot down” or “disabled,” it said in the statement.
Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak said earlier Wednesday that Kiev was not responsible for attacks in Russia.
Ukraine will not attack on Russian soil. Ukraine is waging a defensive war to relieve all its territories,” he wrote on social media.
