Russian strikes kill at least 19 people in Ukraine
Mike Brest
Video Embed
Russian forces killed at least 19 people on Friday in their latest barrage of missiles and rockets that targeted cities throughout Ukraine.
One strike hit an apartment building in the central city of Uman, killing 17 people, Ukraine’s Internal Affairs Ministry said. Dnipro’s regional governor reported a young woman and a child were killed in another strike. Another 18 people were wounded. Ukraine’s armed forces thwarted 21 of 23 Russian cruise missiles that were launched from Russian aircraft in the Caspian Sea area, authorities said.
LAWMAKERS QUESTION TIMELINE FOR ABRAMS TANKS TO REACH UKRAINE
“Uman… The rubble is still being cleared,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Twitter. “There are already 13 dead. Two of them are children that can’t be identified. The fate of their parents is unknown… The rescuers will work until they make sure that no one else is left under the rubble. We can defeat Russian terror together only – with weapons for Ukraine, the toughest sanctions against the terrorist state, and fair sentences for the killers.”
The Ukrainian president also posted a video showing the hit apartment building and, in a previous tweet, said in part, “Evil can be stopped by weapons – our defenders are doing it. And it can be stopped by sanctions – global sanctions must be enhanced.”
Ukraine’s Minister of Internal Affairs, Ihor Klymenko, said that there were 46 apartments in one of the buildings that was hit in the strikes and that 27 of them were completely destroyed. He said it could take a day to clear the rubble.
“Rescuers have pulled out two more bodies from the rubble, bringing the total to 17 civilians killed by the Russians in Uman,” Ihor Taburets, governor of the Cherkasy region, which Uman is a part of, said on the Telegram messaging app. “The rescue operation continues.”
CLICK HERE FOR MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Missiles and drones were shot down over the capital of Kyiv, in what authorities said was the first time the capital had been under fire in roughly seven weeks.
Friday’s strikes came ahead of the highly anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive set to begin in the coming weeks. Ukrainian forces are looking to take back currently occupied territory in the south and east, while their Western allies are pouring billions of dollars of military assistance in preparation for the fight.