Russian missiles kill 50 in Ukraine’s Poltava in deadliest strike this year
Hundreds more were injured, prompting Zelensky to repeat his plea for Western air defences and permission to hit targets deep inside Russia
At least 50 people were killed and 271 wounded when Russia hit a military institute in Ukraine’s central town of Poltava with two ballistic missiles on Tuesday, the war’s deadliest single attack this year.
Photographs posted on social media showed several bodies of young men on the ground covered in dust and debris, with the badly damaged side of a large building behind them. Reuters could not immediately verify the images.
“The Russian scum will definitely be held accountable for this strike,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on the Telegram messaging app.
He ordered a full and prompt investigation, saying the strike damaged a building of the Military Institute of Communications.
The emergency service gave the death toll of 50; other officials said 51 were killed. A further 15 people may still be under the rubble, according to Poltava regional governor Filip Pronin.
Ukraine’s land forces said military personnel had been killed. They did not specify how many of the victims were from the armed forces, but the attack was a major blow to Kyiv as it tries to bolster its ranks to hold off a more powerful enemy.