Russia has blasted an apartment block in Ukraine with missiles after launching a swarm of drones at cities overnight, a deadly display of force following a solidarity visit by China’s leader Xi Jinping.
Key points:
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has visited troops near the front line in Bakhmut on Wednesday
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At least four people have been killed after a drone struck two university dormitories in the town of Rzhyshchiv, near Kyiv
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Britain has rejected accusations from Moscow that supplying Ukraine with ammunition made from depleted uranium created a risk of “nuclear collision”
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted security camera video of a residential apartment block in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia exploding as it was struck with a missile in broad daylight.
Reuters verified the footage and witnessed the aftermath: firefighters struggling to put out flames engulfing the wreckage.
Regional authorities said at least one person was confirmed dead and 33 wounded in the strike.
“Right now, residential areas where ordinary people and children live are being fired at,” Mr Zelenskyy wrote.
“This must not become ‘just another day’ in Ukraine or anywhere else in the world.
“The world needs greater unity and determination to defeat Russian terror faster and protect lives.”
Search for survivors after drone attack
In Rzhyshchiv, a riverside town south of the capital, at least four people were killed and 20 injured when two university dormitories were struck by a drone. Four people remain missing.
More than 100 workers and 28 vehicles were deployed to the scene, and the search for survivors was continuing, authorities said.
Sirens blared across the capital and swathes of northern Ukraine, and the military said it had shot down 16 of 21 Iranian-made Shahed suicide drones.
In an apparent reference to the Chinese president’s visit to the Russian capital, Mr Zelenskyy tweeted: “Every time someone tries to hear the word ‘peace’ in Moscow, another order is given there for such criminal strikes.”
Mr Zelenskyy visited troops near the front line on Wednesday. His office released video of him handing out medals to soldiers, which it said was filmed near the frontline city of Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine.
His visit follows a meeting with Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who made an unannounced visit to Ukraine on Tuesday in a show of support.
Mr Kishida toured the town of Bucha on the capital’s outskirts, left littered with dead last year by fleeing Russian troops. He lay a wreath by a church before observing a moment of silence and bowing.
UK denies risk of ‘nuclear collision’
Despite the bloodiest fighting of the war, which both sides describe as a meat grinder, the front line has barely moved for four months.
Russia’s only notable gains have been around Bakhmut, but Kyiv has decided in recent weeks not to withdraw there, saying its defenders were inflicting enough losses on the Russian attackers to justify holding out.
In an intelligence update, Britain’s ministry of defence said Moscow’s Bakhmut assault could be running out of steam.
A Ukrainian counterattack in recent days west of Bakhmut was likely to relieve pressure on the threatened supply route to the city, the Wednesday update said.
There was still a risk the Ukrainian garrison could be surrounded, but there was now “a realistic possibility that the Russian assault on the town is losing the limited momentum it had obtained”.
Britain also rejected accusations from Moscow that supplying Ukraine with ammunition made from depleted uranium created a risk of “nuclear collision”.
Britain on Monday confirmed it was supplying Ukraine with such shells, used by many militaries to penetrate armour due to the metal’s high density.
“There is no threat to Russia, this is purely about helping Ukraine defend itself,” Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said.
Reuters