A Russian missile and drone attack killed at least five people and injured 53 in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, on Wednesday .
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to call on the West to provide additional air defences and long-range weaponry on Wednesday.
A terrified observer captured footage of a massive explosion in the sky, which Zelenskiy later shared on his Telegram messaging app.
“Inside, everything is damaged, outside everything is also damaged. I’ve got jitters on my body, my hands … it’s all very complicated and scary,” Olha, the manager of a successful café, told Reuters. She said that several of her employees had been hurt and were concussed.
Georgyi, an elderly man with a bandaged nose and wounded face, told Reuters, “There was such a strong explosion that the wave hit me, and I fell.”
According to local officials, at least four of the 53 injured people are still in critical condition.
Russia denies that it is targeting people or civilian facilities. Thousands of people have been killed since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“This Russian terror can only be stopped by modern air defences and our long-ranged weapons,” Zelenskiy said the crowd. “The world can protect lives, and only the decisiveness of leaders is needed.”
Borys Filatov, the city’s mayor, declared a day of mourning on Thursday. He claimed on Telegram that the assault destroyed kindergartens, schools, and hospitals, as well as causing fires around the city. Officials said that commercial structures had also been destroyed. “The morning has not been good for us. The enemy launched a combined attack on our city,” Serhiy Lysak, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, told reporters.
According to Lysak, at least 11 people had been sent to the hospital, with two in critical condition.
( Source: Reuters)
