Russian attacks on Dnipropetrovsk Oblast kill 8, including children, injure 35
Editor's Note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
Russian forces attacked Dnipropetrovsk Oblast with missiles in the morning of April 19, killing at least eight people, including two children, and injuring at least 35 others, local authorities reported.
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Governor Serhii Lysak said that the strikes caused a fire at a five-story building in Dnipro, partially destroying it.
Dnipro Mayor Boris Filatov reported that the attacks struck "the very center of the city."
Russia also reportedly attacked the infrastructure facilities of Ukrzaliznytsia, Ukraine's state-owned railway company, killing one and injuring seven railroad workers. The railway station in Dnipro briefly suspended operations.
The number of casualties in Dnipro totaled two killed and 24 wounded, Lysak said at 2:23 p.m. In the evening, the body of the third victim was found on the third floor of a damaged building, Lysak reported later.
According to him, the Russian attack damaged over 10 houses in the Synelnykove district in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, killing five civilians, including an eight-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl, and injuring seven other people.
Lysak later said that another child, a six-year-old boy initially pronounced dead, was hospitalized in serious condition and managed to survive.
An infrastructure facility was hit by Russia in the city of Kryvyi Rih, said Oleksandr Vilkul, the head of the city's military administration. Three people, including men, aged 43 and 53, and a 58-year-old woman, were reportedly injured.
Lysak reported that a business in Pavlohrad was also damaged in the strike.
The number of casualties can increase as the search and rescue operation is ongoing.
President Volodymyr Zelensky once again urged partners to provide Ukraine with additional air defense systems.
"We must defeat Russian terror. This is a need not only for our country, not only for Ukrainians, but a global need," Zelensky said.
A series of explosions were reported in Dnipro shortly after 5 a.m. local time, according to the news outlet Suspilne.
A Kyiv Independent correspondent reported that at least two Russian missiles struck the city and that critical infrastructure was damaged.
Russia has targeted Dnipro's critical infrastructure and residential areas in multiple attacks in the past weeks. A missile strike on April 14 injured 12 people, including a teenage boy.
A March 22 attack on the Dnipro Hydroelectric Power Plant, Ukraine's largest hydroelectric station, caused at least $3.5 million in environmental damage.
Explosions were also reported in Odesa at around 5:18 a.m.
Moscow has recently intensified its missile and drone strikes against Ukraine's critical infrastructure, launching large-scale attacks on energy facilities across the country on March 22 and 29.
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