Russian missile strikes kill 19 people in Ukraine
Russia sent more than 20 missiles and two drones into Ukraine Friday, which killed at least 19 people.
According to The Associated Press, nearly all of the missiles struck a residential apartment building in the central city of Uman. Among the people killed were two 10-year-olds and a toddler.
Ukraine intercepts missiles over Kyiv
Eleven cruise missiles and two unmanned aerial vehicles were intercepted by Ukraine’s air force over Kyiv. The attack “was nowhere near the war’s sprawling front lines or active combat zones in eastern Ukraine, where a grinding war of attrition has taken hold,” per AP.
Search and rescue crews are still working “until they make sure that no one else is left under the rubble,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, per The New York Times.
“The entire town heard that awful explosion,” local hotel administrator Tetiana told the Times. “It has been quiet for a while, and we had a feeling like life is coming back to normal. And now, again.”
It was “the first wide-ranging Russian assault against civilian targets in more than a month,” according to the Times.
How will Ukraine respond to Russian attack?
Ukraine’s military said a counterattack was “nearly ready” to strike, and the government hopes to take back Russian-claimed annexed territory within the country, Reuters reported.
“As soon as there is God’s will, the weather and a decision by commanders, we will do it,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleskii Reznikov told an online news briefing, per Reuters.
