Zelensky condemns ‘Russian terror’ after deadly air strikes on Ukraine cities
- Russian strikes battered cities across Ukraine, ahead of an anticipated counteroffensive by Kyiv’s forces
- The deadly attack included a strike on a residential building and came days after the leaders of Ukraine and China spoke
Russia hurled missiles at cities across Ukraine as people slept early on Friday, killing at least 17 people in the first large-scale air strikes in nearly two months.
The early-morning attacks were carried out as Kyiv prepares to launch a counteroffensive to try to retake Russian-occupied territory.
In the central city of Uman, firefighters battled a raging blaze at a residential building that had been struck on an upper floor. At least 10 people were killed, including two children, and nine were taken to hospital, regional governor Ihor Taburets said.
Rescues clambered through a huge pile of the smouldering rubble, carrying out a body bag away on a stretcher. A grown man wearing a face mask sobbed as he watched, and a woman came to comfort him.
“At first the windows were blown out, then came the explosion,” a resident of the building who gave her name only as Olga said as rescuers dug through the debris. “Everything flew out.”
In the southeastern city of Dnipro, a missile struck a house, killing a two-year-old child and a 31-year-old woman, regional governor Serhiy Lysak said. Three people were also wounded in the attack.