AT LEAST 41 people have been killed by two Russian ballistic missile strikes on a military academy and a hospital inside Ukraine.
Some 180 people have been injured in what is being called one of the deadliest attacks since the start of the war.
X/nexta_tvDozens feared being killed in a Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian military unit in Poltava, Ukraine.[/caption]
East2WestMany people are stuck under rubble after the horror strike[/caption]
AFPPresident Zelensky has said the attack destroyed an educational building in Poltava[/caption]
The strike occurred in the Poltava region and was intended to hit a military unit.
But it also ended up hitting a nearby medical facility.
Many people are now trapped under the rubble after buildings collapsed in the horror strike.
Emergency responders are now working and have already rescued 25 people, 11 of whom were retrieved from the rubble.
President Zelesnky said: “One of the buildings of the Institute of Communications was partially destroyed. People found themselves under the rubble. Many were saved.”
Ukrainian officials were left scrambling after the back-to-back incoming strikes left no time to alert and save civilians.
Pro-war Russian Telegram channels say the strike hit a military training centre – and that all the victims are army recruits.
However, many civilians are understood to have been killed and injured in the horror strike.
Ukraine’s defence ministry has called the attack “barbaric”, saying the city of Poltava is experiencing a “terrible day”.
Zelensky said that “all necessary steps” are being taken in the rescue operation and an investigation will be launched into the strike.
He once again asked leaders in the West to arm Ukraine with more defence systems and to allow Kyiv to use missiles deep inside Russia.
“We keep telling everyone in the world who has the power to stop this terror: air defence systems and missiles are needed in Ukraine, not in a warehouse somewhere.
“Long-range strikes that can protect us from Russian terror are needed now, not sometime later. Unfortunately, every day of delay means loss of life.”
Poltava is a city in central-eastern Ukraine – and is not part of the frontline in the Russia-Ukraine war.
The city has key Ukrainian military facilities including institutions and training centres.
Earlier this year, Russia struck an airfield in Poltava claiming to have destroyed Ukrainian jets, but today’s attack was more direct and targeted city areas with civilian infrastructure.
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