Ukraine says at least 18 civilians were killed in strikes

The Ukrainian authorities said on Sunday that air strikes one day ago killed at least 18 civilians, which is one of the highest drawings in one day so far this year and a remarkable reminder of the constant destruction of the war as they approached their fourth year.

The first strike took place on Saturday morning when a Russian missile hit a residential building in the Ukrainian city of Boltava, about 150 miles from the front lines, killing at least 14 people, including two children, according to local emergency services. Videos from the aftermath of the attack showed part of the building that was reduced to ruins, with clothes and documents spread throughout the area.

A few hours later, the Ukrainian authorities said that the Russian bomb had crashed into an internal school in Soudha, a town in western Russia under the control of the Ukrainian, killing four people.

Russian Ministry of Defense Blame KYIV for a deadly strike in Sudzha and did not address the attack on Poltava. Neither of the two parties cannot be checked independently.

Ukrainian officials said that about 90 Russian civilians who were displaced due to the near fighting were veiled when the attack took place. The military spokesperson in the area, Octiery Dimetrashkkki, said in the text messages that four of these people were killed and wounded 10.

“They destroyed the building, although dozens of civilians were there,” said President Voludmir Zelinski of Ukraine on Saturday night. Social media yetEmphasizing that these were “civilians” in Russia. Share pictures of the ruins and people covered with dust, clearly vibrated by the attack.

Soudha, a small town near the Ukrainian border in the West Russian Kursk region, was arrested by Kiev forces during the cross -border attack last summer and since then it has been occupied by Ukraine.

On Saturday – the amazing – stagnant attacks near the front lines and the killing of people from the two warring countries – the brutal losses of the war on civilians. Since Russia’s invasion of nearly three years ago, more than 1,2300 civilians have been killed, the United Nations official I mentioned Immediately before Christmas.

The United Nations noticed a sharp increase in losses last year due to the use of long -range drones, missiles and sliding bombs capable of reaching distant targets. Cities are relatively safe – like LifetimeIn western Ukraine, and Boltua Now facing repeated attacks. In Kiev, the echo that was rare of Russian aircraft that fly in its sky regularly during the night.

Deniz Kulayb, director of the free and unspecified response team, a volunteer response team in Boltava, said he and his colleagues had rushed to the attack site as soon as they heard explosions, and they found a pile of rubble and a residential building on the fire. “I heard incredible screams from people,” he remembered. “People used to be under the rubble, and they screaming for help.”

When he approached the remains of the building, Mr. Kliap, 26, coincided with the torn corpse of a woman in the rubble. Inside, another woman’s colleague found an open wound, bleeding severely. He said that the other residents were shocking.

Photos From emergency services it showed that several floors of the building had collapsed. She left some housing rooms miraculously, and opened their doors on the vacuum left by a neighboring apartment. The clothes were attached to the vacuum, hanging on steel bars and cables.

On Sunday morning, Ukrainian emergency services were still searching through the rubble left by the missile the day before. They said they saved 22 people. Speaking on the phone, Mr. Kliap said that the relatives of the population gathered there, in the hope of the survivors.

“But rescuers often find bodies only,” he said.

The strike in Politava hit the memories of a The previous attack, in SeptemberIn a military academy, 50 people were killed, many of whom were students. Russian academic missiles hit just minutes after the raid warnings. “Over the course of last year, the feeling of danger increased among Poltava citizens,” said Mr. Kliap.

The Ukrainian authorities urged their Western partners to provide more missiles and air defense systems to protect Ukrainian cities. “We need to protect the best-air defense systems, long-term weapons and penal pressure,” Mr. Zelinski He said on SundayNoting that only last week, Russia fired nearly 50 missiles, 660 drones and more than 760 bombs.

The Russian civilians also found themselves in increasingly danger because the battlefield may partially transform into Russia in regions such as Corsak, where the Ukrainian and Russian forces were fighting, and Ukraine targets military bases and oil facilities inside Russia.

Thousands of Civilians were arrested in the early days of the fightingMany have remained in the Ukrainian region, which has been controlled since then. Since the Russian forces have gradually pushed forward attacks to restore their lands, the continuous battles have put civilians in great danger.

Yurii Syvala The reports contributed.