The death toll from a Russian strike 48 hours ago on a residential building in Dnipro in Ukraine has risen to 40, becoming one of the heaviest since the start of the war.
And it should get heavier still.
As usual, the Kremlin denied having been responsible for the carnage, blaming the Ukrainians: the spokesman for the Russian presidency, Dmitry Peskov, spoke of “a tragedy” which could be due to a shooting from the defense Ukrainian anti-aircraft.
Conversely, the Swedish presidency of the European Union denounced "a Russian war crime".
As of Monday, the fate of 29 people remained unknown.
The point in pictures.
Director:
Olivier JUSZCZAK
Ukrainians celebrated the Orthodox New Year (in the Julian calendar) on Saturday, a popular holiday on the eve of which children are traditionally given sweets.
The strike reached the entrance of a nine-story building, many of which are smoldering rubble.
"Festive Saturday - and Pursuit of Terror (Russian).
While Ukrainian children are enjoying sweets received yesterday, Russia is attacking residential buildings,” commented Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska.
A video posted by Ukrainian rescue services on Facebook and Telegram showed rescuers digging through the rubble of the Dnipro building overnight.
Power cuts also affected most parts of the country after new Russian attacks on electricity production facilities, according to Ukrainian authorities.
The strike that destroyed the apartment building in Dnipro was carried out in the wake of a campaign of regular and massive bombings that Moscow has been carrying out since October against Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
Faced with this rain of missiles and the threat of a new major Russian offensive, Westerners have intensified their military aid to Ukraine.
London and Warsaw now plan to supply it with tanks.
Vladimir Putin for his part denounced the increasing deliveries of Western weapons to Ukraine, the Kremlin swearing that the tanks promised to kyiv will "burn" on the battlefield.
After its victories in the fall, kyiv says it still and above all needs heavy tanks, light armor, long-range missile systems and anti-aircraft defense to retake all of the territories that Russian troops occupy in the east. and southern Ukraine.
Moscow has also denied, as always in this case, having been responsible for the carnage in Dnipro, blaming the Ukrainians.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov spoke of a "tragedy" that could be due to a shot by the Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense.
Cranes were still in action to bring rescuers into the ravaged and otherwise inaccessible apartments, or to lift concrete slabs.
Since the start of rescue operations, 39 people have been rescued from the ruins of the building.
In the rubble, rescue teams were looking for the 29 people still missing, authorities said.
On Monday, nearly 48 hours after a missile ripped through a building on Victory Quay in Dnipro, eastern Ukraine, 40 dead bodies were found.
The Swedish presidency of the European Union has denounced "a Russian war crime".
In this place of desolation, people laid flowers and stuffed animals in memory of the victims.
Other residents of Dnipro donated clothes or duvets to a collection point set up by humanitarian workers.
War crimes
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