According to official data, more than 70 people were injured in the attack and a dozen are in serious condition. About 40 remain missing. Rescuers reported that people were still screaming under the rubble.
More than 230 apartments in the building were damaged, with 72 completely destroyed in Saturday’s attack. Approximately 3,450 tons of debris and 39 damaged vehicles were removed from the site. The building complex may not have been fully inhabited, as officials said 100 to 200 people were reported there on Sunday.
“Terrorists being punished for everything”
The presidential administration in Kyiv released photos of the crumbling building. The head of the presidential office Andriy Yermak was shocked. Russian troops in the country are “terrorists who will be punished for everything. Everyone – without exception,” threatened Yermak. “We will fight back.” The enemy did not change its tactics and continued its attacks on civilian infrastructure.
APA/AFP/Vitalii Matokha The complex of buildings was almost completely destroyed by the attack
According to Ukrainian and international media reports, several power supply facilities were again attacked over the weekend. Rockets hit several such targets in several cities, including major cities in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odessa, the BBC reported on Sunday.
Rocket attack on skyscraper in Dnipro
Ukraine is experiencing or suffering the biggest wave of attacks in weeks. One particularly devastating attack rocked the city of Dnipro in central Ukraine.
Russia’s Defense Ministry has not commented on the high civilian casualties. Instead, ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said only on Sunday of the latest attacks: “All designated objects were hit. The target of the blow has been reached.”
Britain advances with tank delivery
As the head of his presidency, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke of the Russian “terror” that could only be stopped with Western weapons, which his country had come to expect. In his daily video message on Saturday night, Zelenskyy thanked Britain for its promise to deliver a total of 14 Challenger 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine.
Wehrschütz (ORF) in Russian attack wave
ZIB correspondent Christian Wehrschütz with current information on the latest wave of Russian attacks on Ukraine.
Great Britain is the first country to supply modern Western heavy main battle tanks to Kyiv. This is a signal for other partners in his country to do the same, said Zelenskyy. Until now, Ukraine has received Western-style anti-aircraft and wheeled infantry fighting tanks, but only ex-Soviet or Russian models of main battle tanks, mainly through an exchange of rings from Eastern European NATO countries, who received Western models in return.
APA/AFP/Getty Images/British Army/Pete Bristo London is sending a clear signal to other NATO countries with the delivery of the Challenger 2
Leopard 2 dispute
Above all, Ukraine has been pressuring Germany for weeks to deliver the modern Leopard 2, whose A4 version is also used in the Austrian Armed Forces and is technically superior to Russian tanks. Poland and Finland want to offer some Leopard models manufactured in Germany. The federal government in Berlin has so far rejected this, within the government’s “traffic light coalition” formed by the SPD, FDP and Greens, the topic is controversial.
picturedesk.com/dpa/Philipp Schulze So far Germany has turned down Leopard 2, Poland and Finland are said to want to deliver
Berlin doesn’t want to be pushed
In any case, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) does not want to be pressured, as he recently confirmed again – probably out of fear that German tank deliveries could draw NATO deeper into the conflict in Ukraine or cause it to become aggravate even more. Moscow has issued corresponding threats to London about the delivery of Challenger 2. So far, Germany has supplied Gepard anti-aircraft vehicles, 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles are to follow, as well as artillery, anti-aircraft and radar systems.
debate
Ukraine: what is needed for peace?
Scholz criticized “excited statements” in Friday’s debate and urged more prudence. The “necessity of having to say something every ten minutes” should not lead to decisions “related to war and peace” being “simply shaken up”, Scholz said in Berlin. On issues of further support for Kyiv, Germany “will always act in close coordination with our friends and allies”, he stressed. Most Germans are critical of the tank delivery.
Stoltenberg for heavy weapons delivery
Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has spoken out in favor of delivering more heavy weapons to Ukraine. “Recent commitments for heavy war equipment are important – and I expect more in the near future,” Stoltenberg told “Handelsblatt”.
Repair more than “repainted”
According to the German armaments group Rheinmetall, it will not be able to repair Leopard 2 models for Ukraine until 2024 at the earliest. “Even if the decision is taken tomorrow that we can send our Leopard tanks to Kyiv, the delivery will take place by the beginning of next year,” said CEO Armin Papperger of the German “Bild am Sonntag”.
The group has 22 decommissioned Leopard 2s and 88 pieces of the previous Leopard 1 model. The repair takes nearly a year, Papperger said. “The vehicles are not just repainted, they need to be converted for war use. They are completely dismantled and then rebuilt.” Without an order, the group cannot put the tanks into operation, as they cost several hundred million euros. “Rheinmetall cannot pre-finance this,” said the armaments group’s CEO.