Zelensky rages at Russia after strike on housing block kills 24

KYIV: President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Friday for Moscow to be punished after laying red roses at the rubble of a Kyiv apartment building where a Russian missile strike killed 24 people, including three children. Rescue workers ended search operations at the devastated building, which was struck on Thursday during Russia's heaviest air attack on the Ukrainian capital this year.
'Our first responders... worked non-stop for ⁠more than a day', Zelensky said on the Telegram app after visiting the site in Kyiv's Darnytskyi district, ⁠on the left bank of the Dnipro River, laying flowers and talking to rescue workers. 'The Russians practically levelled an entire section of the building with their missile', he said. Russia, which began its full-scale attack of Ukraine in February 2022, had launched more than 1,500 ‌drones and dozens of missiles at targets in Ukraine over two ​consecutive days, according to Ukrainian officials. Six ⁠people were also killed in western Ukraine, far from the front line.
'A Russia ‌like this can never be normalised — a Russia that deliberately destroys lives and hopes to remain unpunished. Pressure is needed', Zelenskiy said, reiterating appeals to allies to help ​Ukraine strengthen its air defences. Moscow's Defence Ministry said its forces had carried out massive strikes on Ukraine on May 12-15, the Russian state news agency RIA reported. Kyiv officials declared on Friday a day of mourning, with national flags at half-mast across the city of 3 million. All entertainments were cancelled or postponed. Residents brought flowers, stuffed animals and sweets to a makeshift memorial at the destroyed housing block.
The Interior Ministry said hundreds of rescuers had sifted through 3,000 cubic metres of rubble in ​28 hours of searching. City officials said 24 bodies had been recovered and about 30 people rescued alive. Nearly ​50 people ‌were ⁠wounded and about 400 required psychological support, the ministry said. 'My friend lived on the second floor. They found her around 7 pm — I don’t remember exactly — along with her husband”, said Tetiana Prudyus, 34, who had brought red roses. 'I ​know a lot of people here... I want to say one thing', she said, ⁠holding back tears. 'Even ​after this, we won't surrender. We're a very strong nation'.
Zelensky has said initial analysis shows the building was hit by a recently made Russian Kh-101 missile. Moscow denies deliberately targeting civilians but during more than four years of war it has frequently hit residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure all over Ukraine. Ukraine has also carried out drone attacks ​on Russia. Four people, including a child, were killed in an attack on the central Russian ​city of Ryazan on Friday that damaged high-rise apartment buildings and hit an unnamed industrial enterprise, the regional governor said.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian drones have struck an oil refinery in Russia's central city of Ryazan, the commander of the Ukrainian drone ⁠forces said on Friday. Ryazan is ⁠located about 200 km southeast of Moscow. Robert Brovdi, the drone forces ‌commander, also said that ​his troops ⁠hit overnight 23 military ​targets and facilities in Russia ‌and also on occupied Ukrainian territory. The ​General Staff of Ukraine's military confirmed the strike on the refinery, saying that a large fire broke out ‌at the facility. It described the refinery ​as one of the largest ​in ‌Russia, saying its ⁠refining capacity was around 17 million metric tonnes of crude ​oil per year. It added ⁠that a ​small missile boat and a minesweeper at the Kaspiysk base on the Caspian Sea have ​been struck. — Reuters