Russian forces obliterated a retirement home in Ukraine, killing an elderly woman and wounding at least a dozen more, in the latest wave of deadly airstrikes to hit the country, Ukrainian officials said.
The Russian-guided bomb struck the five-story geriatric center in the city of Sumy in a broad daylight attack on Thursday, according to Ukraine’s interior ministry.
A 78-year-old civilian was confirmed dead and 12 others injured as rescue crews scrambled to see if anyone was buried underneath the rubble, regional and military officials said.
Footage from the scene — shared by Ukrainian officials on Telegram — showed first responders frantically evacuating elderly patients from the destroyed building in blankets and wheelchairs.
Once outside, some of the elderly could be seen lying on carpets on the ground.
“There are wounded, some of them are in serious condition and they have been hospitalized,” Volodymyr Artyukh, head of the Sumy regional administration, said.
The retirement center was home to roughly 220 patients, according to local outlets.
“The enemy is hitting people who have nothing to do with the war, they are just sick people,” said the city’s acting mayor, Artem Kobzar.
In his nightly video address, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had launched 90 guided bomb attacks within the past 24 hours.
Russian forces also targeted Ukraine’s energy sector in airstrikes on Thursday, officials said.
The Sumy region, which borders Russia’s Kursk region — the site of a major Ukrainian incursion — has repeatedly been attacked by Moscow of late.
Russian shelling killed three people near Krasnopillia in the Sumy region on Wednesday night, local authorities said.
More shelling on Thursday wounded two people and damaged a medical institution, they added.
Russia, meanwhile, had taken back two more villages in Kursk, a senior commander said, adding that Russian forces were also advancing in eastern Ukraine.
Zelensky, however, shot back, saying the incursion into the Kursk region had succeeded in diverting nearly 40,000 Russian troops to the area.
Kyiv says it has seized more than 100 settlements since launching its shock incursion last month.
With Post wires
