Russian missiles hit Ukraine apartment building, 2 killed

Kyiv: Russian missiles slammed into the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, killing two people, wounding at least 20 others and trapping up to seven beneath rubble, Ukraine's interior minister said Monday.

The two missiles struck an apartment building, destroying a section of it between the fourth and ninth floors, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said. Part of a four-story university building also was destroyed, he said.

Meanwhile, a Ukrainian artillery strike on partially occupied Donetsk province killed two people and wounded six in the regional capital, according to Denis Pushilin, the Moscow-installed leader of the llegally annexed province.

A bus was also hit as Ukrainian forces shelled the city of Donetsk multiple times Monday, Pushilin said. Neither side's claims could be independently verified.

In Kryvyi Rih, video showed rescue crews working through the wreckage from the part of the university building that was demolished. Black smoke billowed from corner apartments in the apartment building. Outside, debris was strewn across the tree-lined street.

Parked cars were burned out or damaged. The governor of Dnipropetrovsk province, Serhii Lysak, said the morning attack wounded 31 people, including four children. It was not possible to reconcile different casualty figures.

Kryvyi Rih is the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Kremlin's forces have occasionally targeted the city since they invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Bombarding populated areas with missiles, artillery and drones has been a hallmark of Moscow's tactics during the war, with some aerial attacks hitting civilian areas. The strategy has continued during a Ukrainian counteroffensive that is trying to drive Russian forces out of occupied areas.

Russian officials insist they only take aim at legitimate military targets. Commenting on Monday's attack, Ukraine's president said that “in recent days, the enemy has been stubbornly attacking cities, city centers, shelling civilian objects and housing.”

“But this terror will not frighten us or break us,” Zelenskyy said in a social media statement. In the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, Russian shelling killed another civilian Monday, local authorities said. Several others were reported to be wounded.

Ukraine, meanwhile, has sought to take the war deep into Russia, reportedly using drones to hit targets as far away as Moscow. The latest strike, on Sunday, damaged two office buildings a few miles (kilometres) from the Kremlin.

Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia and Moscow-annexed territory, especially Crimea, have become more frequent recently. (AP)