Emergency crews pulled the body of a child from the rubble as they searched for survivors of a Russian missile attack that leveled an apartment building in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih.
The missile was one of what Ukrainian authorities said were 16 that evaded air defenses among 76 missiles fired Friday in the latest Russian attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure; part of Moscow’s strategy to leave Ukrainian civilians and soldiers in the dark and cold this winter.
However, there was an emotional moment when a girl was rescued from the rubble holding a teddy bear.
There was an emotional moment when a girl was rescued from garbage in Ukraine holding a teddy bear. (new)
The Kremlin confirmed on Saturday that Russian President Vladimir Putin held a conference call with the commanders of the armed forces, including Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov, the previous day.
He also spoke with commanders of different branches.
In Ukraine, Governor Valentyn Reznichenko of the Dnipropetrovsk region, where Kryvyi Rih is located, wrote on the Telegram social media app that “rescuers recovered the body of a one-and-a-half-year-old boy from under the debris from a house destroyed by a Russian rocket”.
Firefighters put out a fire after a deadly missile attack on an apartment building in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih. (AP)
In all, four people were killed in the strike and 13 were injured, four of them children, authorities said.
Reznichenko said strikes by Russian forces continued Friday night, damaging power lines and homes in the towns and villages of Nikopol, Marhanets and Chervonohryhorivka, which are across the Dnieper River from the nuclear power plant of Zaporizhzhia occupied by the Russians.
Russian President Vladimir Putin met with senior military commanders to discuss the war in Ukraine. (AP)
On Saturday morning, Ukraine’s military leadership said Russian forces had fired more than two dozen more missiles since the attack a day earlier. He did not say how many of them might have been stopped by air defenses.
Friday’s attack, which hit many parts of central, eastern and southern Ukraine, was one of the biggest assaults on the capital, Kyiv, since Russia began the war by attacking Ukraine on February 24 .
Kyiv came under fire from about 40 missiles on Friday, officials said, almost all of which were intercepted by air defenses.
In Kherson, where Ukraine regained control last month in a major setback for Russia, a 36-year-old man was killed and a 70-year-old woman was wounded in a Russian attack on Saturday, regional governor Yaroslav Yanushevych said .
An emergency worker comforts an elderly woman after a deadly missile attack on an apartment building in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih. (AP)
Once again, Ukrainian utility crews have had to scramble to fix damaged power and water systems as Russia targets vital services for civilians as winter hardships begin.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported on Saturday that two-thirds of homes in the country’s capital had been reconnected to electricity and all had regained access to water. The subway system also resumed service, after serving as a shelter the day before.
Putin visits a bridge damaged during a bomb attack