Missile and drone strikes across Ukraine claim at least 15 lives

An apartment building in the central Ukrainian city of Uman has been hit after a series of early morning airstrikes across the country on Friday.

Ukraine's commander-in-chief, Valery Zaluzhny, says Ukraine managed to shoot down 21 incoming cruise missiles out of a total of 23, with the remaining two hitting Uman and Dnipro.

The attack on Uman is the deadliest hit on a Ukrainian apartment building since 40 people were killed in Dnipro in January.

Ukraine's internal minister, Ihor Klymenko, said that at least 13 people are dead in Uman after nine stories of the building collapsed. He added that it will take more than a day to search the rubble for more trapped underneath. So far, Ukraine's emergency service has managed to rescue 17 people.

The regional military administrator for Uman reported that two 10-year old children are among the dead.

Meanwhile, the regional military administrator in Dnipro says at least two people are dead from the second missile strike on a low-rise housing complex.

Ukraine's General Prosecutor's office says it is investigating the cases as potential war crimes, claiming the missiles intentionally targeted civilian areas.

The strikes come one day after a similar attack on a historic apartment building in the southern city of Mykolaiv, which left one person dead. All three attacks used high-precision cruise missiles, according to Ukrainian officials.

This is a developing story. [Copyright 2023 NPR]