Two Russian ballistic missiles hit a military institute and nearby hospital in Ukraine on Tuesday, killing at least 41 people and wounding 180 others in one of the deadliest strikes in nearly 30 months of war.
The attack on the central city of Poltava “partially destroyed” a building in the Military Institute of Communications, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
“People found themselves under the rubble. Many were saved,” Zelensky said in a video posted on his Telegram channel.
“The Russian scum will definitely be held accountable for this strike.”
Rescue crews and medics saved at least 25 people, 11 of whom were dug out from the rubble, officials said of the devastation about 70 miles from the border with Russia and about 200 miles southeast of Kyiv.
The strike was one of the deadliest carried out by Russian forces since the war began on Feb. 24, 2022.
Photographs posted on social media in Ukraine showed several bodies lying on the ground covered in dust and debris, with the badly damaged side of a large building behind them.
Just before the missiles hit, an air raid alert blared, prompting many people to try to take cover in bomb shelters. But the type of weapons used left little time for people to find cover even after the alarm sounded, the Foreign Ministry said — describing the strike as “barbaric.”
Poltava Gov. Filip Pronin announced three days of mourning beginning Wednesday.
“A great tragedy for Poltava region and entire Ukraine,” Pronin wrote on Telegram. “The enemy certainly must answer for all (its) crimes against humanity.”
Russia, which has not commented on the attack, has recently intensified its missile and drone attacks on Ukraine, now two-and-a-half years into their full-scale war.
The strike came as Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Mongolia, a member of the international court that issued a warrant for his arrest nearly 18 months ago on charges of war crimes in Ukraine.
Ukraine has called on Mongolia to arrest Putin and hand him over to the court in The Hague, however, a spokesperson for Putin said last week that he wasn’t worried about the visit.
Ukraine was hit last week with the heaviest bombardment to date and on Monday, ballistic and cruise missiles targeted Kyiv.
While Ukraine fired back at Russia with over 158 drones over the weekend, used to damage an oil refinery and power station near Moscow, Zelensky has held steady with his requests for the US and other Western countries to provide greater military assistance.
“Ukraine needs air defense systems and missiles now, not sitting in storage,” Zelensky wrote in English on Telegram.
“Long-range strikes that can protect us from Russian terror are needed now, not later. Every day of delay, unfortunately, means more lost lives,” he said.
With Post wires.
