Eleven killed in Russian strike, Ukraine rescue teams sift through wreckage

On Friday, Russian missiles targeted residential structures in Sloviansk, eastern Ukraine, killing 11 people and wounded 21.

On Saturday, Ukrainian state broadcaster Suspilne reported 11 deaths and 21 injuries from regional emergency services.

Donetsk Region governor Pavlo Kyrylenko told national television that seven Russian S-300 missiles were fired.

He reported “no fewer than seven spots hit” in Sloviansk, west of Bakhmut, the Ukrainian frontline’s toughest combat.

Rescuers used cranes, ladders, and other heavy equipment to scour apartment and stairwell shells for victims overnight. Workers climbed ladders cautiously while perched on concrete slabs.

Some smashed flats had only window frames and plaster pieces.
The top two levels of one five-story apartment complex collapsed during nighttime operations.

Emergency services reported about 50 rescuers at the scene.

Kyrylenko said they found a 1946-born woman in the rubble. Daria Zarivna, a senior official in President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s administration, claimed a youngster taken alive from the attack site died on the way to the hospital.

The assault destroyed several dozen multi-storey buildings and dwellings, emergency services reported.

“The evil state once again demonstrates its essence,” Zelenskiy commented in another post with footage of a destroyed structure. “Killing people in daylight. “Destroying life.”

In his nightly video speech, Zelenskiy stated “Russian murders and terror” had occurred every hour leading up to this weekend’s Orthodox Easter services. Evil loses. “Such humanity requires victory.”

Russian forces, stalled in Bakhmut, want Sloviansk and Kramatorsk as they invade Ukraine.