At Least Eight Killed After Rockets Hit Apartment Building in Ukraine

De Wikifliping

At least nine people have been killed including a two-year boy by Russian airstrikes in Sloviansk, which hit at least ten sites and have left dozens trapped under rubble.
Among the targets was an apartment block in the city after Putin's men launched long-range S-300 missiles on residential areas.
The strike on the quiet neighbourhood this afternoon came as Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill that will make it easier to mobilise citizens into the army, and block them from fleeing the country if drafted. 
A two-year-old boy was pulled from the wreckage by frantic rescuers, but despite the best efforts of paramedics he died on the way to hospital, authorities said. 
Grieving relatives were pictured at the scene of the apartment block, which sits in Ukrainian-controlled Donetsk territory just 27 miles northwest of Bakhmut, a hotspot of fighting in recent months. 
Rescuers work at a site of a residential building damaged by a Russian military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Sloviansk, Donetsk region on April 14, 2023
Emergency workers and servicemen rescue a child from a partially destroyed residential building after shelling in Sloviansk, on April 14, 2023
A woman covers her face in horror in front of a partially destroyed residential building, after shelling in Sloviansk
Governor of the Donetsk region Pavlo Kyrylenko told Ukrainian television that 21 people have been injured in addition to the nine fatalities - but both figures are expected to rise.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack is just another example of Russia's brutality during its invasion. 
'The evil state once again demonstrates its essence.

Just killing people in broad daylight. Ruining, destroying all life,' Zelensky wrote on his official Telegram. 
Ukraine's First Lady Olena Zelenska sent her condolences to the family of the two-year-old killed during this time of 'indescribable grief'. 
The head of the Sloviansk city military administration, Vadym Liakh, said: 'Today's attack on Sloviansk was one of the most massive since the beginning of this year.
'There were several strikes on different districts of the city.' 
Rescue operations in the areas hit are still ongoing. 
A residential building damaged by a Russian military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Sloviansk, Donetsk region
An injured elderly man sits on top of the rubbles after he was rescued by emergency workers
An elderly man is rescued from the apartment building.

Nine people are known to have died from the shelling
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire as they look for victims and survivors
Rescuers and volunteers at work at a destroyed apartment building.

At least nine people have died from the rocket attack
Officials say it is likely more people are buried beneath the rubble
Workers were seen digging for survivors on the top floor of a Soviet-era residential building, with smoke billowing from homes on fire across the road.
The street beneath, including a playground, was covered in a layer of concrete dust and debris.
'I live on the opposite side of the street and I was sleeping a little when I heard this huge boom and I ran out from my flat,' 59-year-old resident Larisa said.
'I was really scared and in a state of shock,' she said, adding the impact of the shelling had broken her windows and sent shards of glass flying throughout her home.
'I heard a woman screaming, "there's a child here, there's a child here".

She was screaming so much.'
More than a year after Moscow launched its offensive in Ukraine, fears are high in Russia that the government is planning a fresh mobilisation drive after a bill was rushed through parliament this week to create a digital draft system.
Under the legislation, which Putin signed on Friday, a draftee would be banned from travelling abroad and would have to report to an enlistment office once electronic call-up papers have been received.
Tens of thousands of men fled from Russia last autumn after Putin announced a mobilisation to prop up the forces in Ukraine.
Firefighters work at a site of a Russian military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Sloviansk, Donetsk region on April 14, 2023
Firefighters work at a site of a Russian military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Sloviansk, Donetsk region on April 14, 2023
The scene of a Russian rocket attack on a residential building in the city of Sloviansk in Donetsk, Ukraine, on April 14, 2023
A residential building was damaged by a Russian military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Sloviansk, Donetsk region on April 14, 2023
A search and rescue operation has been conducted in the aftermath of Russian shelling in Sloviansk, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on April 14, 2023
Residents stand in front of a burning residential building after a shelling in Sloviansk, on April 14, 2023
A firefighter needs extinguishes a blaze in a building after shelling in Sloviansk, on April 14, 2023
The strike on Sloviansk, which many residents have fled from since Russia invaded, came as Moscow said it was pushing to take more districts of ravaged Bakhmut.
Despite having little strategic value, the town has become a fixation of military commanders, leading to a brutal nine-month war of attrition.
'Wagner assault units are conducting high-intensity combat operations to conquer the western districts of the city,' the Russian army said in a statement, referring to the private paramilitary group.
Russian airborne troops were 'providing support to assault squads and halting the enemy's attempts to deliver ammunition to the city and bring in reserves', it added.
On Thursday, Moscow claimed to have cut off Ukrainian forces in Bakhmut.

Kyiv denied the claim, saying it had access to its troops and was able to send in munitions.
Ukraine has vowed to continue defending Bakhmut. But on the ground, Ukrainian sources near Bakhmut told AFP on Friday that Kyiv's forces were in a 'difficult' position.
'I know that many of our soldiers are missing, that positions were lost and it was impossible to evacuate or withdraw the troops,' an army source said, while adding that Ukraine was still 'bringing in fresh people' to the city.
Separately, an intelligence source said any pullout from Bakhmut would be slow and gradual, as there was only a narrow escape path left.
'Russia has re-energised its assault', the UK's Ministry of Defense (MoD) said of recent developments in the eastern Ukrainian city, which has been the stage for the war's longest and bloodiest fight for months.
'The Ukrainian defense still holds the western districts of the town but has been subjected to particularly intense Russian artillery fire over the previous 48 hours,' the ministry's assessment said.
Until recently, a notorious private Russian military contractor, the Wagner Group, spearheaded the campaign to take Bakhmut, making slow, grinding progress at the cost of thousands of lives on both sides.

Now, regular Russian units have joined the thrust.
Military analysts have said that seizing Bakhmut would have public relations and tactical military value for Moscow though was unlikely to prove decisive in the war's outcome. The Russian Defense Ministry also noted the stepped-up fighting in western parts of the city on Friday.
'Wagner assault detachments are engaged in high-intensity combat operations to capture areas of western Bakhmut with airborne forces supporting on the flanks,' the ministry said in a statement.
It added: 'The units of the airborne forces operating on the flanks are providing support to the assault squads and stop the enemy's attempts to deliver ammunition to the city and bring in reserves.'
Ukrainian soldiers of the 80th brigade firing artillery in the direction of Bakhmut as the war continues in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on April 13, 2023
Ukrainian artillery fires towards the frontline during heavy fighting amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near Bakhmut, on April 13, 2023
Bakhmut lies in Donetsk, one of four provinces Russia illegally annexed last autumn. 
Moscow controls about half of the province.

Bakhmut is a stepping stone to seizing the remaining half.
Ukrainian officials have said they are buying time by depleting Russian forces in the battle while Kyiv prepares a counteroffensive. 
Zelensky argues that if Russia wins the Bakhmut battle, Putin might be able to begin building international support for a deal that would require Ukraine to make unacceptable compromises to end the war.
On Friday, Ukraine retrieved the bodies of 82 of its soldiers from Russian-controlled territory, a government ministry said.
Ukrainian and Russian forces have held regular prisoner exchanges during Moscow's full-scale invasion, which is now in its 14th month. 
Russia holds swathes of territory in Ukraine's east and south.
The Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories gave no details about how it retrieved the bodies, but said it was carried out 'in accordance with the norms of the Geneva Convention'.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Zelensky discussed ramping up military support to Ukraine in a phone call on Friday, Downing Street said.
Sunak told the Ukrainian President that Britain and its allies 'needed to continue to ensure Ukraine was in the strongest possible position to build on its recent battlefield successes'.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Zelensky (pictured) discussed ramping up military support to Ukraine in a phone call on Friday, Downing Street said
The two leaders discussed the latest developments in Russia's invasion, with Sunak paying tribute to the efforts of Ukrainian troops in Bakhmut.
Sunak also said a gruesome video that purportedly shows the beheading of a Ukrainian soldier was 'appalling' and that those responsible had to be held to account.
Zelensky has called on world leaders to respond to the video, which the Kremlin said was 'horrible' but needed to be verified.
The phone call between the two leaders came after an alleged leak of US classified defence documents online appeared to lay bare military secrets in Ukraine, including claims that up to 50 UK special forces personnel have been deployed to the war-torn nation.
However, the MoD warned against taking allegations contained in the reported leak at 'face value'.