Smoke billowed from a five-storey residential building in the Darnytskyi district, which suffered a direct hit. An acrid stench of burning material wafted in the air as firefighters worked to contain the blaze.
Amid the destruction, emergency responders searched for survivors and pulled out bodies. Crowds of residents stood nearby, waiting for relatives to be retrieved from the rubble. Among them was a man still waiting for information about his wife and son.
Firefighters carry a victim’s body from a building hit by Russian strikes.Credit: AP
Bodies in black bags were placed to the side of the building.
Residents said it was not the first time their district was targeted. Oleksandr Khilko arrived at the scene after a missile hit the building where his sister lives. He heard screams from people who were trapped under the rubble and pulled out three survivors, including a boy.
“It’s inhuman, striking civilians,” he said, his clothes covered in dust and the tips of his fingers black with soot. “With every cell of my body I want this war to end as soon as possible. I wait, but every time the air raid alarm sounds, I am afraid.”
Ukraine’s national railway operator reported damage to its infrastructure in the Vinnytsia and Kyiv regions, causing delays and requiring trains to use alternative routes.
Loading
Meanwhile, Ukraine struck Russia’s Afipsky oil refinery in Krasnodar region and Kuybyshevskyi oil refinery in Samara region overnight on Thursday, the commander of Ukrainian drone forces said.
Fuel stations have run dry in some regions of Russia following recent Ukrainian attacks on refineries and other oil infrastructure, with motorists waiting in long lines and officials resorting to rationing or cutting off sales altogether.
Russian media outlets reported fuel shortages are hitting consumers in several regions in the Far East and on the Crimean Peninsula, which was illegally annexed from Ukraine by Moscow in 2014.
The attacks came as the recent diplomatic push to end the war appeared to have stalled. Few details have emerged of next steps to follow US President Donald Trump’s recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
‘All deadlines have been broken’
Western leaders have accused Putin of dragging his feet in peace efforts and avoiding serious negotiations while Russian troops move deeper into Ukraine. This week, Ukrainian military leaders conceded Russian forces have broken into an eighth region, seeking to capture more ground.
Zelensky hopes for harsher US sanctions to cripple the Russian economy if Putin does not demonstrate seriousness about ending the war. He reiterated those demands following Thursday’s attack.
“All deadlines have already been broken, dozens of opportunities for diplomacy ruined,” Zelensky said.
Trump said last Friday that he expected to decide on next steps in two weeks if direct talks between Putin and Zelensky were not scheduled.
AP
