Death toll rises to 40 from Russian missile strike in this Ukraine town

Dnipro/Kyiv:

The death toll from a Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro rose to 40 on Monday and dozens went missing, making it the deadliest civilian incident in Moscow’s three-month campaign to hurl missiles at cities far from the front.

Germany’s Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht resigned on Monday after comments on the war that were criticized as tone deaf in what is expected to be one of the most crucial weeks in underscoring Western military support for Kyiv Is.

With allies meeting Friday at a US airport in Germany to discuss military aid, Berlin is under immense pressure to allow the export of its Leopard battle tanks, which Ukraine hopes will form the backbone of a new armored force. Will become.

Ukrainian officials expressed little hope of finding anyone else alive in the rubble of Saturday’s attack in Dnipro, but President Volodymyr Zelensky said the rescue in the central Ukrainian city would continue “as long as there is the slightest chance of saving lives”.

“Dozens of people were pulled from the rubble, including six children. We are fighting for every person!” President Zelensky said in a televised address overnight.

Moscow denies intentionally targeting civilians in a campaign of airstrikes since October that has knocked out power and water in Ukrainian cities, and says the incident in Dnipro was caused by Ukrainian air defences.

Kyiv says it has no way of shooting down an anti-ship missile that fell on an apartment building in Dnipro on Saturday during Russia’s latest attacks.

City official Gennady Korban said at least 40 people were killed in the attack, 30 of whom are still unaccounted for. He said 75 people, including 14 children, were injured.

tank week

The German government said Chancellor Olaf Scholz had accepted Ms Lambrecht’s resignation and a new defense minister would soon be appointed in her place.

She comes out just three days before hosting her US counterpart, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and four days before they gather at Ramstein air base in Germany for the next meeting to coordinate military support for Kyiv.

Ms Lambrecht has been criticized in recent days for being deaf after an upbeat New Year’s Eve message, filmed in front of fireworks, in which she spoke of opportunities to meet “interesting, great people” as a result of the Ukraine war .

The coming week is expected to see intense diplomacy to secure additional weapons for Kyiv, with a focus on Germany’s reluctance so far to supply tanks or allow its allies to send them.

France, the United States and Germany pledged armored fighting vehicles this month, but Western nations had so far held off on offering main battle tanks. Britain broke that taboo over the weekend by offering a squadron of Challengers.

Moscow has accused the West of escalating the conflict, although Russia maintains that the supply of tanks will not affect the course of the war. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday, “British tanks” will burn like the rest.

Eastern and Central European NATO allies rely primarily on German-built Leopards, which are seen as Western tanks best suited to form the core of a new Ukrainian armored force. Poland and Finland said last week they would like to send them, but would need Berlin’s permission.

Ukrainian forces captured large swathes of territory during the second half of 2022. But for the past two months the front lines have been largely frozen, despite intense fighting in which both sides are believed to have suffered heavy casualties. Kyiv says the new Western armor will break the impasse, giving its forces the ability to break through Russian defensive lines.

Moscow claimed it captured the eastern salt-mining town of Soledar last week in what would be its biggest battlefield success since last August. Kyiv says it still has a presence in the city and fighting continues.

“Simply put, the fight is on,” Deputy Defense Minister Hannah Maliar said on the Telegram messaging app. “Everything else is unverified information.”

Ukraine’s Western allies say the battle for Soledor, which had a pre-war population of barely 10,000, is unlikely to have much wider impact, except if heavy losses require both sides to hold further decisive battles Can

Ukraine is warning that Moscow could be planning a new offensive in the coming weeks, also involving close ally Belarus, which has allowed Russia to use its territory as a staging ground but has yet to start direct war. opposed to joining.

Russia and Belarus began joint military aviation exercises on Monday. Minsk said the exercises are defensive and it will not enter war.

“We are maintaining restraint and patience while keeping our ammo dry,” said Pavel Muraveko, First Deputy State Secretary of the Belarusian Security Council, according to a post on the Belarusian Defense Ministry’s Telegram app on Sunday.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)