At least 11 dead and several injured after Russian “massive missile attack” in Kryvyi Rih

First modification: 06/13/2023 – 15:08Last modification: 06/13/2023 – 15:17

Rescuers try to find survivors after a barrage of Russian missiles hit the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih.

The main target of the attack was a five-story residential building, which caught fire and from where the Police helped evacuate dozens of residents who woke up at dawn on June 13 to the loud noise of the explosions.

However, at least 11 people died and 28 were injured. The number of fatalities could increase because around seven civilians were reported missing after the assault, according to the mayor of the town, Oleksandr Vilkul.

“We were sleeping, all the windows were broken. I’m still confused about how it all happened. At first there was a loud crash, the cars caught fire, the window here flew out (…) It was very loud,” described Irina Kudravtseva, one of the evacuated residents.

Other buildings in the city, the birthplace of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, were also hit by Russian shells, amid what Kiev called a “massive missile attack” by Russia.

Subsequently, the emergency services of the invaded country managed to extinguish the flames of all the affected buildings, as well as trees and at least three vehicles.

But Kryvyi Rih was not the only target of the invading troops on Tuesday.

Ukraine reports Russian attacks in kyiv, Kharkiv and other cities

In the early hours of the day, air-raid sirens blared across the country, whose army said its forces destroyed at least 10 of the 14 cruise missiles fired by Moscow, as well as one of four drones launched, in Iranian manufacturing.

In the Kiev region, to which the city of the same name belongs, the Ukrainian Air Force assured that it repelled the attacks when its defense systems destroyed all the projectiles that were headed for the capital.

“No information on casualties or damage has yet been received,” said the head of the city’s military administration, Serhiy Popko.

Meanwhile, in Kharkiv, in the east, civilian infrastructure was attacked by a drone, according to the city’s mayor, Ihor Terekhov.

“According to initial reports, a utility company in the Kyivskyi district as well as a warehouse in the Saltivskyi district were damaged. A fire broke out as a result of the explosion in the latter,” the official said.

Likewise, air strike alerts sounded in the Dnipropetrovsk oblast and the neighboring regions of Donetsk and Poltava.

Russia denounces that a high military command of its Army died in a Ukrainian air attack

The Russian state media and bloggers, endorsed by Moscow to broadcast information about the war, stated that on Monday, June 12, the Ukrainian military carried out an assault on the battlefront of Zaporizhia, in the south of the attacked nation, in which a senior citizen died. military command of the invading troops.

“As a result of an enemy missile attack, the chief of staff of the 35th Combined Arms Army, Major General Sergei Goryachev, was killed,” prominent pro-war blogger Voenkor said in a Telegram post.

He is a Moscow-decorated commander who previously led his country’s troops in the breakaway region of Transnistria, in Moldova, whom the invading army described as “one of the most brilliant and effective military leaders.”

The Russian media highlighted that the soldier probably died after an assault with a Storm Shadow cruise missile, supplied by the United Kingdom.

The West has pointed out that more than a dozen Russian generals have been killed since Moscow invaded Ukraine. However, those figures have not been confirmed by the Kremlin.

Zaporizhia, one of the four regions that Russia annexed in disputed referendums in September 2022, is one of the main focuses of the Ukrainian counteroffensive. About 80% of that area is controlled by Vladimir Putin’s military.

With Reuters and local media