Toll in Dnipro strike hits 40
Zelensky says rocket attacks ‘a war crime’
KYIV: The toll from a devastating strike on the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro was expected to rise past 40 yesterday as rescuers searched the rubble for 25 people still missing after one of Russia’s deadliest attacks since its invasion.
President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced the missile strike as a war crime.
“There is no doubt: every person guilty of this war crime will be identified and brought to justice,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly address late on Monday.
Kyiv has called for more weapons to defend itself and at the weekend received pledges of British tanks, but Russian President Vladimir Putin warned more armaments would only intensify fighting and the Kremlin vowed to burn the gear.
With tensions high, a top US official, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, on Monday visited Kyiv where she expressed Washington’s “steadfast commitment” to Ukraine and discussed ways to bolster the country’s security posture with Mr Zelensky.
In Dnipro, residents gathered to get warm drinks and food next to the partially collapsed Soviet-style residential building that was ripped open by the strike on Saturday.
Emergency services gave the new toll specifying that three children were among those dead, with 25 people still unaccounted for. Seventy-seven were wounded in the strike.
“The rescue operation, the demolition of the rubble, will not end until the bodies of all the dead are found. So far, 40 people have died,” said deputy head of the presidency Kyrylo Tymoshenko.
The Kremlin claimed its forces were not responsible and pointed to an unsubstantiated theory circulating on social media that Ukrainian air defence systems had caused the damage.
“The Russian armed forces do not strike residential buildings or social infrastructure. They strike military targets,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
EU presidency holder Sweden condemned the attack “in the strongest terms”, with Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson telling reporters that “intentional attacks against civilians are war crimes”.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also condemned the strike, with his spokesperson saying it was “another example of a suspected violation of the laws of war”.
In a visit to the war-torn country, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said it was setting up a permanent presence at all five of Ukraine’s nuclear facilities, including Chernobyl, which closed after the 1986 disaster.
The decision marks a major expansion of the IAEA’s activities in Ukraine. Until now, only the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia plant, which is near the frontline, had a permanent IAEA presence.
To withstand Russian attacks, Ukraine has been pressing Western backers to supply it with advanced tanks, in particular the Germandesigned Leopard.
Britain this weekend pledged 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine, which would make it the first Western country to supply the heavy tanks Kyiv has been calling for.
Mr Putin’s spokesperson told reporters that “these tanks are burning and will burn.”