At least 51 people have been killed and more than 200 others injured in a Russian missile strike on the city of Poltava, in central Ukraine.
A military communications institute and a nearby hospital were hit. Ukraine’s land forces confirmed that military personnel were killed in the attack.
People did not have enough time to get to bomb shelters after the air raid alarm sounded, Ukraine’s ministry of defence said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky promised that what he called “Russian scum” would pay for the attack, and repeated calls for more air defences so that Ukraine could protect itself by carrying out its own long-range missile attacks. Moscow has not commented on the attack.
Teaching was in progress at the Poltava Military Communications Institute when the missiles hit, a later statement from Ukraine’s defence ministry said.
Earlier reports from Russian military bloggers had suggested that cadets were gathered at a military parade being held at the institute, but the ministry confirmed there was no parade happening at the time of the strike.
Alarms sounded at 09:08 (07:08 BST) and everyone headed to the shelter, the defence ministry added, and the explosions started a few minutes after the alarms.
(BBC News)
