Ukraine war: child’s body pulled from Dnipro high-rise, 41 deaths from missile strike and 25 missing
- Emergency crews have cleared about 90 per cent of the rubble since Saturday’s fatal strike; 79 people were wounded
- A senior Ukrainian official said on Tuesday that more than 9,000 civilians have been killed in the war, including 453 children, amid ‘80,000 crimes by Russian invaders’
The death toll from a weekend Russian missile strike on an apartment building in southeastern Ukraine climbed to 41 on Tuesday after the body of a child was pulled from the rubble, officials said.
Another 25 residents of the building city of Dnipro were still missing, according to Valentyn Reznichenko, the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region. Its capital is Dnipro.
Emergency crews have cleared about 90 per cent of the rubble during a 63-hour search since Saturday’s strike, he said. There are 79 wounded people, he added, with 28 of them hospitalised and 10 in serious condition.
Another Ukrainian official said on Tuesday that more than 9,000 civilians have been killed in the war, including hundreds of children.
The latest deadly Russian strike on a civilian target in the almost 11-month war has triggered outrage.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed to bring those responsible to justice, saying it’s “a fundamental task” for Ukraine and its Western allies.
“This strike at Dnipro, as well as other similar strikes, falls, in particular, under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court,” he said in a video address late on Monday.
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Hopes fade as search continues for survivors in Ukrainian residential block hit by Russian strike
“And we will use all available opportunities, both national and international, to ensure that all Russian murderers, everyone who gives and executes orders on missile terror against our people, face legal sentences. And to ensure that they serve their punishment,” he said.
“We have registered 80,000 crimes committed by Russian invaders and over 9,000 civilians have been killed, including 453 children,” Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential staff, said at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos.
“We will not forgive a single (act of) torture or life taken. Each criminal will be held accountable,” he added, reiterating that Ukraine wants a special international tribunal to try Russian political leaders and reparations for the destruction caused by Russia’s invasion.
The UK Defence Ministry said on Tuesday that the weekend barrage of long-range missiles, the first of its kind in two weeks, targeted Ukraine’s power grid.
But the ministry identified the missile that slammed into the Dnipro apartment building as an anti-ship missile that “is notoriously inaccurate when used against ground targets as its radar guidance system is poor at differentiating targets in urban areas”.
Similar missiles were used in other incidents that caused high civilian casualties, it said, including a strike on a shopping centre in Ukraine’s central city of Kremenchuk in June.
Such incidents have helped stiffen international support for Ukraine as it battles to fend off the Kremlin’s invasion. The winter has brought a slowdown in fighting, but military analysts say a new push by both sides is likely once the weather improves.
US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and other US officials met in Kyiv with Zelensky on Monday, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said. They reiterated Washington’s “strong and steadfast commitment to Ukraine,” he said.
US Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Monday visited Ukraine troops who are training at a military base in Germany under US commanders.
More than 600 Ukrainian troops began the expanded training programme at the camp on Sunday.
“This is not a run of the mill rotation,” Milley told commanders. “This is one of those moments in time where if you want to make a difference, this is it.”
Ukraine’s first lady was also helping to cement Western support and acquire more foreign weapons, as she was expected to give a rare international address at the World Economic Forum.
Meanwhile, the head of the UN nuclear agency visited the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant on Monday and announced the organisation’s permanent presence there to oversee operations and ensure safety.
Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, tweeted that the agency’s flag was flying over the power plant.
“We are here to stay to help ensure nuclear safety (and) security during ongoing conflict,” Grossi said, adding that “soon, IAEA will be permanently present” at all of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants.
Ukraine has four nuclear power plants, with 16 reactors. One of them, the Zaporizhzhia plant, was taken over by Russian forces in the first months of the war and remains under their control.
Additional reporting by Reuters
