Apt. attack toll hits 30
Rubble all that’s left
The death toll in Russia’s brutal attack on a Ukrainian apartment complex has risen to 30, as civilians continue to suffer during the war’s fifth month.
Rescuers in eastern Ukraine are still searching for survivors in the five-story block that was struck late Saturday in Chasiv Yar, Donetsk, by rockets fired from a truck, Ukraine said.
The structure was reduced to a pile of rubble, 65% of which had been cleared by Monday night. Nine people have been rescued so far, according to the country’s emergency service.
“I was thrown into the bathroom, it was all chaos, I was in shock, all covered in blood,” a survivor named Venera said while crying. She lost her kittens in the attack. “By the time I left the bathroom, the room was full up of rubble, three floors fell down. I never found the kittens.”
Residents of the collapsed building mostly worked in nearby factories. One local named Valerii said Sunday that his sister and 9-year-old nephew had been trapped in the building.
“Now I’m waiting for a miracle,” he said before beginning to pray. “We do not have good expectations, but I am avoiding such thoughts.” It’s unclear if they made it out alive.
Another resident, Oksana, said she was in an apartment on the third floor.
“There was an explosion, all the windows blew out and I was thrown to the ground,” the 45-year-old said. “My kitchen walls and balcony have completely vanished. I called my children to tell them I was alive.”
The attack came as the Kremlin continues its effort to win
control of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
Russian forces have carried out 34 strikes since Saturday, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“Anyone who orders such strikes, everyone who carries them out in ordinary cities, in residential areas, kills absolutely consciously,” Zelensky said Sunday.
“After such hits, they won’t be able to say that they didn’t know or didn’t understand something.”