Russian strike kills 51 in Ukraine

Missiles target military institute in Poltava

KYIV:

At least 51 people were killed and hundreds injured in a Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Poltava Tuesday, authorities said.

Kyiv said the strike hit a military education facility and a nearby hospital, but authorities did not say how many of the victims were military or civilians.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed to hold what he called "Russian scum" accountable, while rescuers worked to clear the rubble.

"As of 6 pm (1500 GMT), 51 people were killed and over 200 wounded in the attack," the office of Ukraine's prosecutor general said.

Two Russian ballistic missiles hit the hospital and educational institution, partially destroying one of the buildings, Zelensky said.

The strike took place in the morning in Poltava, a city with a pre-war population of around 300,000 people, some 300 kilometres (189 miles) east of Kyiv.

"The window blew open. Dust was everywhere. I just had time to tell my sister that a rocket was flying," said Yevgeniya Chyrva, a local resident from a building damaged during the attack.

The defence ministry said that the time between the alarm and the arrival of the missiles was "so short that it caught people in the middle of evacuating to the bomb shelter".

The Poltava military communications institute, founded in the 1960s when Ukraine was part of the USSR, specialises in training telecommunications specialists. "One of the institute's buildings was partially destroyed, and many people were trapped under the rubble," the defence ministry said.

An AFP journalist on the scene saw several ambulances heading towards the affected site shortly after the attack on the military institute.

Rescuers were still at work after having managed to save 25 people, including 11 trapped under the rubble, the defence ministry said.

Official channels and local media shared messages urging locals to donate blood to help treat the wounded.

At the same time criticism of Ukrainian officials swirled online.

"Poltava... How can such a large number of people gather at such a facility?" said blogger Sergey Naumovich.

There had been some reports from Russian military bloggers that the strike targeted an outdoor ceremony.

Poltava Governor Philip Pronin said his administration could not provide more details of the circumstances of the strike "for security reasons".