37 people are still missing in the collapsed block of flats in Dnipro.
The nine-storey block was hit in a large-scale Russian missile attack on Saturday. The death toll rises hour by hour, with positive news also coming from the rescue team.
In the morning hours on Sunday, rescue workers managed to rescue a woman who was buried in the ruins.
CARRIED OUT: The rescue workers heard the woman shouting around midnight Norwegian time. She was rescued ten hours later. Photo: Denys Monastyrskij/Facebook
– We heard her while we observed a minute’s silence at one o’clock last night. At 11.30 today we freed her from the ruin, writes the Minister of the Interior, Denys Monastyrskij, on Facebook.
The rescue operation continues. Monastyrksij specifies that they are doing everything they can for everyone who is still trapped in the ruins.
SURVIVOR: The woman is alive. No one knows how many others may be alive inside the ruins. Photo: Denys Monastyrskij/Facebook
Russian missile
The nine-story apartment block was hit by a Kh-22 missile, a Ukrainian defense spokesman told the Ukrainian newspaper Pravda.
The attack happened shortly after 4pm local time. It cost at least 21 lives. Among those killed is a 15-year-old girl, according to the report New York Times.
At least 73 people are injured, among them 14 children.
“The death toll is increasing every hour”
Every floor of the building has been “shattered” as a result of the blast, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
MANY MISSING: On 14 January, a Russian rocket hit a nine-storey block of flats in Dnipro. The following day, rescue work is still underway at the block. Photo: Aage Aune / TV 2
– It is not yet known how many people are under the ruins, he said in his nightly speech.
– Unfortunately, the death toll increases every hour.
Shouts from the ruins
From the ruins, TV 2’s team at the scene on Saturday could hear people shouting for help.
– A woman is shouting under the building blocks, we are asked to be quiet so they can hear where she is, TV 2’s reporter at the scene, Hilde Gran, could tell in the most dramatic hours on Saturday.
TV 2’s reporter himself saw four dead bodies on the ground. One of them was a young woman.
Not possible to shoot down
Dnipro was just one of many cities the Russians turned their guns on on Saturday.
In the Donetsk region, five people have been killed following the attacks.
In Lviv, a rocket reportedly broke through Ukraine’s air defenses and damaged critical infrastructure.
In the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, 18 private homes were hit and critical infrastructure was hit, according to local authorities.
SHELTER: People seek shelter inside a metro station during massive Russian missile attacks in Kyiv, Ukraine on January 14, 2023. Photo: Reuters/ Viacheslav Ratynsky
When the attacks were underway on Saturday, Juri Ignat, the press spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, said the following:
– Kyiv was hit by ballistic missiles. These cannot be intercepted by Ukraine. It is also not possible to shoot them down.
A ballistic trajectory means, roughly explained, that the missile moves in an arc from launch to the target.
COMBAT: Ukrainian soldiers equip trenches not far from Soledar, Donetsk region on January 14, 2023. Photo: Anatolii Stepanov / AFP
Battle of Soledar
At the same time as the extensive air attack against Ukraine was going on, the war of words about Soledar also continued.
Because while the Ukrainians believe that the battle for Soledar is by no means decided, the Russians are arguing over who has the credit for capturing the salt mining town, as rivalry between the Wagner Group and Russia’s regular army appears to be growing.
Yevegeny Prigozhin, known as “Putin’s chef” and owner of the private military force Wagner, boasts of the efforts of his own forces.
TANK: The British will reportedly donate several Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine, according to the BBC. Photo: INTS KALNINS
The British send tanks
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says, via his spokesman, that the British government has “ambitions” to “intensify aid”, and confirms a new delivery of equipment and artillery systems.
according to BBC there is also a package of 14 tanks, of the Challenger 2 type, in the aid package. If the delivery is carried out, the UK will probably be the first country to deliver tanks.
American and European authorities have long been skeptical about giving tanks to Ukraine, as there has been concern that Russian President Vladimir Putin would escalate the conflict.
In recent weeks, the debate on arms aid has changed pace, with Western authorities apparently becoming more risk-averse.
This is due, among other things, to the Ukrainians’ achievements on the battlefield and ability to use complicated, western weapons, but probably also to assist Ukraine in the new, but expected, Russian mobilization and offensive in the spring.
Ukraine’s top military commander, General Valery Zaluzhnyi, said The Economist that the Ukrainian defense needs about 300 Western tanks and about 600 Western armored fighting vehicles. He describes the number as necessary to be able to improve Ukrainian positions in the east of the country.
