Ukraine on Tuesday said a Russian missile strike on its central city of Dnipro wounded at least 18 people, with President Volodymyr Zelensky saying rescue efforts were underway after a college and kindergarten were hit.
Dnipro is a city in central Ukraine on the river of the same name. It has been a target for deadly Russian attacks.
“Dnipro. Already 18 injured,” Dnipropetrovsk Governor Serhiy Lysak said on social media, adding that five of those taken to the hospital were children.
He added that their lives were not in danger and described their condition as “moderate.”
Ukraine’s emergency services earlier said that a missile strike had hit a “kindergarten, a college and an enterprise.”
It posted a photograph of a two-story building with blown-out windows that looked heavily damaged and firefighters with blackened faces after extinguishing a blaze that covered an area of 150 square meters (1,600 square feet).
Zelensky said in his daily evening address that “rescue operations” were underway and also said the educational facilities were “damaged.”
He vowed retaliation, saying it is “important that the Russian terrorists receive answers to their attacks.”
The Ukrainian leader also called for more Western air defenses to resist Russian forces.
“Air defense for Ukraine is the protection of life,” he said, adding that “they can save thousands of lives from Russian terror.”
