dpa
Kiev
At least 51 people have been killed and more than 200 injured in the central Ukrainian city of Poltava, in what was one of the deadliest Russian airstrikes on the country in more than two years of war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday.
Zelensky said two ballistic missiles targeted “an educational institution and a nearby hospital” in Poltova, about 280km east of Kiev and some 110kmfrom the Russian border. A building of the telecommunications institute was severely damaged in the attack, according to the president.
“We continue to urge everyone in the world who has the power to stop this terror: Ukraine needs air defence systems and missiles now, not sitting in storage,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram.
Images circulating on social media showed bodies lying in front of a severely damaged multi-storey building, said to be the military institute for telecommunications of the Kiev Polytechnic in Poltava.
According to Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, at least 25 people were rescued from the rubble. In the neighbouring residential area, windows were destroyed and facades damaged by the blast wave.
Ukraine has been fending off a full-scale Russian invasion for more than two years, relying heavily on weapons and air defence systems supplied by Western partners.
Zelensky has been calling on his allies almost every day to ramp up deliveries to allow Ukraine to better protect Ukrainian cities against Russian airstrikes. He has also been demanding longer-range weapons to be able to strike targets deep into Russian territory.
Authorities said the strike hit the city at around 9.10am (0610 GMT).
“Poltava is having a horrible day,” the Ukrainian Defence Minister said. “The Russian aggressor has dealt a barbaric blow to one of the city’s educational institutions.”
