A Russian ballistic missile hit a residential building in the Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih on Tuesday, killing at least one person, according to local authorities. At least 11 others were injured, as Ukrainian authorities condemned the attack on Christmas Eve.
“The monsters directly struck a four-story residential complex with 32 apartments,” the head of the city’s military administration, Oleksandr Vilkul, wrote on Telegram.
“While other countries around the world are celebrating Christmas, Ukrainians continue to suffer from endless Russian attacks,” said Ukraine’s Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets in a Telegram post.
Governor Serhiy Lysak posted photos of rescuers searching through a large pile of rubble, pulling out a dust-covered person, and carrying them to an ambulance.
“There may still be people under the debris,” he wrote shortly before 6:00 pm local time more than two hours after the strike.
Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is a steelmaking city that had a population of over 600,000 before the war.
The southern outskirts of the city, located around 65 kilometres from the nearest Russian-occupied area, have been frequently targeted by Russian missile strikes throughout the war.
Russia claims it does not intentionally target civilians, although thousands have been killed since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in 2022.
Russian troops press on in Donetsk
The attack came as Russia is trying to seize a bridgehead on the western bank of the Dnipro River in the Kherson region, Ukraine’s military said.
While no immediate threat of Russian forces storming Kherson is reported, Ukraine remains cautious of possible large-scale advances by Moscow in the region.
The Russian army also reportedly made advances in the Donetsk region.
Ukraine announced that Russia unleashed 60 drones in an overnight attack from Monday into Tuesday, 36 of which were shot down and 23 were blocked using electronic warfare measures.
The Ukrainian Air Force clarified in a statement posted on Telegram that its air defence systems shot down Russian drones over eight of its regions.
Moscow is exerting pressure on the 1,000-kilometre front line in eastern and southern Ukraine, nearly three years after its all-out invasion.
In recent months, Russia has been launching nearly daily drone attacks, aiming to exhaust Ukraine’s air defences and strike critical infrastructure.
The US has allocated over $250 million (€240 million) to boost Ukraine’s missile production. Italy has also pledged continued military support to Kyiv through 2025.
Meanwhile, Ukraine received $1 billion (€960 million) from the UK and Japan via the World Bank DPL programme, which will be used for social, humanitarian and economic purposes rather than military needs.
