Russian strikes on Ukraine on Tuesday killed 18 people and wounded 130, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, warning that the death toll could increase as rescue efforts were ongoing.
The strikes hit the capital Kyiv and the northeastern city of Kharkiv in a deadly day for Ukraine as Russia’s invasion drags on for almost two years.
“Unfortunately, 18 people died,” Zelensky said in his evening address, adding that another 130 people were wounded.
He said Kharkiv was particularly badly hit and warned “the number of dead may increase.”
Zelensky said rubble from an “ordinary high-rise building” in Kharkiv was still being dismantled and search efforts were ongoing.
“Ordinary people lived here,” he said.
He said around 139 “ordinary houses” were damaged in the attack and that Russia had fired “more than 40 missiles” onto Ukraine.
He also warned of retaliation, saying: “Let them know over there, in Russia, that the Ukrainian character knows how to be sufficiently far-reaching in response.”
“The Russian war will surely return home, to where this evil came from… Right there, in Russia,” he added.