Search and rescue operation completed in Uman — 23 dead, including six children

29 April, 09:43 PM

Consequences of a Russian terrorist missile attack on a high-rise building in Uman (Photo:Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout via REUTERS)

Rescue workers have ended search and rescue operations at a high-rise apartment building in Uman, central Ukraine that was struck by a Russian missile on April 28, killing 23 civilians, including six children, Interior Ministe Ihor Klymenko said on Facebook on April 29.

“Unfortunately, as a result of the Russian strike, 23 people were killed: 22 were taken out from under the rubble, and one more person died in hospital. Among the dead are six children: three boys (aged one-and-a-half, 16, and 17) and three girls (aged eight, 11, and 14),” Klymenko said.

He added that a special headquarters had been set up at the site of the Russian strike, where close relatives of the deceased could provide DNA samples for comparison. Law enforcement officers were able to identify all 23 bodies, but two women are still considered missing.

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Rescuers in a nine-story building in Uman that was destroyed by a Russian strike (Photo:State Emergency Service)

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“Rescuers worked tirelessly to extract people from under the rubble,” Klymenko added.

“Heavy machinery and special equipment were brought in, and police and volunteers provided assistance. Seventeen people were rescued. Additionally, nine people were (hospitalized) as a result of the missile strike.”

Russia carried out its latest mass missile attack on Ukrainian cities in the early hours of April 28. Near Kyiv, 11 missiles and two drones were shot down, while in Uman, one missile destroyed an entire section of a nine-story residential building.

In the city of Dnipro, in the southeast of the country, a young mother and her three-year-old daughter were killed in a Russian missile strike during the attack.

It was the biggest Russian missile attack on Ukraine since March 9. Russia launched 23 cruise missiles at Ukrainian towns and cities from Tu-95 bombers flying over the Caspian Sea. Ukrainian air defenses shot down 21 of the missiles — a 91% success rate.

Russia launched a campaign of mass missile strikes on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure in the autumn of 2022, with the apparent aim of denying Ukrainian civilians heat, water and electricity supplies during winter. The Kremlin appears to have hoped that this would have caused Ukrainians to put pressure on their government to seek a ceasefire.

But despite widespread blackouts, Ukraine’s energy network proved to be resilient, and Russian mass missile attacks began to be less frequent and smaller as the winter wore on, with military experts speculating that Russia might be running low on missiles.

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