UNLEASHING HELL
Two kids among at least 13 killed by Russian missile strike on Ukraine apartment block in horror overnight blitz
AT least 16 people including two kids have been killed after Russian missiles blasted a high-rise apartment block in Ukraine.
It came as Vladimir Putin's troops unleashed a horror overnight blitz across the war-torn country, with a mum and her two-year-old child among those dead.
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In Uman, 16 people died and 17 were left injured when a rocket struck a high-rise apartment building, sparking a huge blaze.
Shocking footage and photos showed a raging inferno at the site, with several floors destroyed.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said rescuers are frantically trying to make sure no one else is trapped under the rubble as he blasted Russia.
He said: "The rubble is still being cleared.
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"There are already 13 dead. Two of them are children that can’t be identified.
"The fate of their parents is unknown.
"The rescuers will work until they make sure that no one else is left under the rubble.
"We can defeat Russian terror together only - with weapons for Ukraine, the toughest sanctions against the terrorist state, and fair sentences for the killers."
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In the central city of Dnipro a missile blasted a house, killing a two-year-old girl and her mum, 31.
Four people were also hurt, and a private home and business were damaged, regional Governor Serhii Lysak said.
And air raid sirens sounded around Kyiv in the first attack against the city in almost two months.
Ukraine's air force intercepted 11 cruise missiles and two unmanned aerial vehicles over the capital, according to the Kyiv City Administration.
Two people were wounded in the town of Ukrayinka in the Kyiv region.
In Kyiv, the anti-aircraft system was activated, according to the Kyiv City Administration.
Air raid sirens started at about 4am and the alert ended about two hours later.
The attack was the first on the capital since March 9.
The missiles were fired from aircraft operating in the Caspian Sea region, according to Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander in Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi.
Overall, he said Ukraine intercepted 21 of 23 Kh-101 and Kh-555 type cruise missiles launched, as well as the two drones.
Explosions were also reported after midnight in Kremenchuk and Poltava in central Ukraine and in Mykolaiv in the south, Interfax reported.
It comes just a day after the Kremlin said it would welcome anything that could bring the end of the conflict closer, referring to a telephone call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday.
It was the first time the leaders had spoken since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year.
Russia invaded Ukraine last February - a conflict which has devolved into a grinding, brutal war.
It is believed some 188,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in Vladimir Putin's botched invasion.
And millions of Ukrainian civilians have endured untold misery as the Russians stole their homes and left cities devastated.
Despite the bloodshed, Kyiv is still standing strong against the Russians with backing from the West.
Putin foolishly believed his forces would be welcomed into Ukraine as liberators.
But instead, the initial attack ended in a disaster which saw his forces devastated and thrown back to Russia.
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Kyiv continues to call for more Western support to help them defeat Putin.
The world is now awaiting to see if Ukraine will mount its long expected counter offensive, with much of the fiercest fighting currently centred around the city of Bakhmut.
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