Ukrainian rescuers stop search in Dnipro

Ukraine on Tuesday stopped its search for survivors in Dnipro, under the rubble of a residential building destroyed by a Russian missile, one of the deadliest bombings of the war, which left 45 dead and around 20 missing according to a last report.

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Regional Governor Valentyn Reznitchenko reported 45 dead, including six children, on Tuesday afternoon. The previous toll reported 44 dead, 20 missing and 79 injured.

Earlier, the Ukrainian rescue services reported on Telegram that “search and rescue operations at the site of the missile strike in the city of Dnipro have been completed”.

It is one of the deadliest bombings on a civilian site since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nearly eleven months ago.

On Saturday, a missile ripped open the Quai de la Victoire building in Dnipro (East), ravaging “more than 200 apartments” according to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, an official of the Ukrainian presidency.

The building collapsed on itself, imprisoning dozens of people under the rubble.

For nearly four days, the emergency services tried to find survivors, with the reinforcement of cranes and a canine brigade. They said 39 people had been rescued.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky promised on Monday that “everyone guilty of this war crime will be identified and brought to justice”.

At the funeral Tuesday of one of the victims, a boxing trainer renowned in his community, relatives gathered, some in tears, in front of his coffin and his portrait. Near the coffin, a wreath of blue and yellow flowers, the colors of Ukraine.

“I will remember him as a person, open and honest, always ready to help,” recalls Artyom Birioukov, one of his students, during a farewell ceremony. “He was my second father,” he added.

For its part, Russia denied, as in previous episodes, any involvement in the carnage and blamed the Ukrainians. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov spoke on Monday of a “tragedy” that he believed could be due to a shot by Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense.

The building was hit during a new wave of massive bombings of Ukrainian energy installations, a campaign launched by the Kremlin in October and intended to plunge Ukrainians into cold and dark after Russia suffered a series military setbacks.

On the diplomatic front, Westerners have reaffirmed their support for their Ukrainian ally, which is still calling for more weapons, in particular tanks, to further push back the Russian army from the territories it occupies.

“The message we are sending to (President Vladimir) Putin is that we are committed to defending the Ukrainians until they are victorious,” British Foreign Minister James Cleverly told a research center in Washington.

On Saturday, London announced the delivery to Kyiv of Challenger 2 armored vehicles, which will be the first delivery of Western-made heavy tanks to Ukraine.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz faced increased pressure from several European leaders on Tuesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos (Switzerland) to authorize the delivery to Ukraine, including by third countries which are equipped, of tanks Leopard 2, which Kyiv has been asking for for weeks.

“We hope and try to organize more support for Ukraine,” said Polish President Andrzej Duda, whose country has said it is ready to deliver Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv. “We hope that the manufacturer of these tanks, Germany, will also participate,” he added.

A meeting on Western military support for Ukraine is scheduled for Friday at the US base at Ramstein in Germany.

For her part, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, promised during a speech in Davos that the EU will continue to support Ukraine “as much as necessary”.

Kyiv has also received a first tranche of three billion euros from an 18 billion envelope planned by the European Union, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday.

Ukraine’s requests for aid also come as the Russian army and the paramilitary group Wagner have redoubled their efforts in eastern Ukraine to conquer the town of Bakhmout and its surroundings, a bloody battle that has been going on since summer.

AFP journalists noted on Tuesday that violent artillery battles were underway around Bakhmout, a city of 70,000 inhabitants before the war and now largely devastated.

“It’s Verdun over there,” says Ivan, a Ukrainian military paramedic, referring to this appalling First World War battle between French and Germans in eastern France.

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