- 41 people are dead after an airstrike on Poltava, Ukraine, its president said.
- Ukrainian officials said two Russian ballistic missiles hit the city.
- The death toll is much larger than in most individual Russian airstrikes on Ukraine.
Russia killed at least 41 people and injured 180 in an airstrike on Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday.
Two ballistic missiles struck the city of Poltava, Zelenskyy said, citing preliminary information.
He said that the death and injury figures were also provisional.
They dwarf the scale of Russia's regular missile-and-drone attacks on Ukraine.
The Ukrainian defense ministry said the attack was so deadly because it came without much warning, and struck before people could reach bomb shelters.
Per Zelenskyy, the strike hit the Poltava Military Communications Institute, a medical facility, and an unspecified educational facility.
The Ukrainian journalist Illia Ponomarenko shared a video of the aftermath in a post on X.
A Russian missile strike on a Military Institute of Communications building and a nearby hospital in Poltava.
At least 41 dead, over 180 injured.
People in Poltava are donating blood to help save lives.
Yeah, Zelensky has vowed to investigate the tragic incident, but this is… pic.twitter.com/L4sEKcSIkP
— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) September 3, 2024
The Military Institute of Communications released a photo of a mourning candle image in a Facebook post with no statement.
In a Telegram post, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said 25 people were rescued, 11 of whom were under the rubble, and that all victims were given medical care.
Philip Pronin, the governor of Poltava, said in a Telegram post that the region will be in three days of mourning starting Wednesday.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.