Foreign

Russia-Ukraine war: Missile attack kills 10 in president Zelensky’s hometown

Published

3 months ago

June 13, 2023

At least 10 people were killed in a Russian missile attack that hit an apartment building and a warehouse in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih on Tuesday, June 13, local government officials said.

Kryvyi Rih regional governor Serhiy Lysak said on Tuesday morning that four were killed in the apartment block and six in the warehouse.

While town Mayor Oleksandr Vilkul said one person was still trapped under rubble and 28 had been injured, with 12 of them being treated in hospital.

According to reports, smoke billowed from the attacked apartment building and Olha Chernousova, who lives in the five-storey apartment block, said she was woken by an explosion which sounded like thunder and thrown out of her bed by a violent blast.

“I ran to my front door, but it was very hot there… the smoke was heavy,” she said.

“What could I do? I was sat on the balcony, terrified I would lose consciousness. Nobody came for a long time… I thought I would have to jump into a tree.”

Zelenskiy, who was born in Kryvyi Rih, condemned the attack in a Telegram post, saying: “Russian killers continue their war against residential buildings, ordinary cities and people.”

Russia has repeatedly struck cities across Ukraine since its full-scale invasion in February 2022 though it denies targeting civilians.

Ukraine’s military command said air defences had destroyed 10 out of 14 cruise missiles, and one of four Iranian-made drones, fired at Ukraine on Tuesday early morning.