The death toll from Russia’s latest barrage of missiles and drones against Ukraine has risen to 28, according to Interior Minister Ivan Vyhivskyi. The deadliest incident occurred on Wednesday in Pryluky, a town in the northern Chernihiv region, where a Russian missile struck a five-storey residential building, killing 20 people, including five children, said regional governor Vyacheslav Chaus.
Rescue teams deployed excavators and dozens of shovels to sift through the rubble of the collapsed apartment block. Emergency workers climbed ladders to reach upper floors of the remaining structure, eventually pulling out 15 survivors. Regional officials reported that approximately 55 people were wounded in the attack.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the strike, labeling it one of Russia’s “most vile” attacks. “The Russians wanted to strike painfully and demonstratively,” Zelenskyy stated. “This was one of the most vile strikes.”
Prosecutors in Kyiv also reported that two people were killed in a capital suburb on Wednesday evening after debris from a drone fell on them.
Russia’s defense ministry claimed its forces targeted a military cargo vessel heading toward the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa, along with infrastructure at Ukrainian ports. A statement posted on Telegram provided no further specifics regarding the strike or the extent of the damage.
Meanwhile, Bulgarian President Iliana Yotova attributed deteriorating security in the Black Sea to the ongoing war. On Tuesday, two ships were hit by drones in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone; one vessel sank while the other was damaged. While the crew of the damaged ship was rescued, the crew of the sunken vessel remains missing, and Bulgaria has suspended its search efforts. Yotova noted a significant decline in safety for commercial shipping in the region but did not directly assign blame to Moscow.
In a separate development, European Union envoys approved 1,646 new designations under the bloc’s sanctions regime targeting Russia. Three EU diplomats indicated that the majority of the newly sanctioned entities and individuals are linked to Russia’s military industrial complex, with over half involved in the production chain for ballistic missiles.
New sanctions, more missile production lines cut. Do you think this actually slows down their supply chain or just adds paperwork?
Does anyone know if any of the missing crew from the sunken Bulgarian ship were found? The article says search is suspended.
Two children killed in an apartment block? This crosses every line of civilized warfare. The world needs to watch.
Twelve survivors pulled from rubble is a sliver of hope in this absolute nightmare. My heart breaks for those families.