“As of 4 p.m., the body of another victim of the five-story missile strike was found – it’s a 21-year-old girl.
“As of 4 p.m., the body of another victim of the five-story missile strike was found – it’s a 21-year-old girl.
These heartbreaking images show rescuers removing the lifeless body of a 21-year-old girl from the remains of a bombed-out building in Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine.
The young woman, who has not been named but who was only 21 years old, was the 7th confirmed victim of a gruesome Russian missile strike that hit a five-story residential building in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv on the morning of Wednesday, June 29.
Rescuers, who labeled the incident a “Russian terrorist attack”, have since found the body of a man, bringing the total death toll to eight.
It appears that the young woman may have been trying to seek shelter in the basement of the building.
The State Emergency Service (SES) of Ukraine for the Mykolaiv region said in a statement on Thursday, 30th June: “As of 4 p.m., the body of another victim of the five-story missile strike was found – it’s a 21-year-old girl.
“She was killed on the level between the first floor and the basement. There are now 7 dead and 6 injured. Rescue work is in progress.”
And in an update today, on Friday, July 1, the SES said that they had found the corpse of a man in the rubble, bringing the total number of people killed to eight. They said: “At night, during search and rescue operations, a man’s body was found under rubble in the stairwell.
“Thus, as a result of the Russian terrorist attack, 8 people died and 6 were injured in the Mykolaiv high-rise building.
“Work on the demolition of debris continues.”
We contacted the State Emergency Service (SES) of Ukraine for further comment, as well as the Russian Defense Ministry, but haven’t received a reply at the time of writing.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 in what the Kremlin is calling a “special military operation”. July 1 marks the 128th day of the invasion.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between February 24 and July 1, Russia had lost about 35,750 personnel, 1,577 tanks, 3,736 armored combat vehicles, 796 artillery units, 246 multiple launch rocket systems, 105 air defense systems, 217 warplanes, 186 helicopters, 645 drones, 143 cruise missiles, 15 warships, 2,610 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 61 units of special equipment.
A missile strike on the outskirts of Odesa has killed at least 18 people including two children, according to regional governor Maksym Marchenko, with over 30 people hospitalized. Ukrainian Brigadier General Oleksii Hromov has said that Russia is using inaccurate missiles from old Soviet stockpiles in over half of its strikes on the country.
Ukraine’s top brass has said that they have forced the Russians to abandon Snake Island and have derided Kremlin officials for claiming that they left as a “gesture of goodwill”. Ukraine’s military added that the Russians had fled the island in speedboats after being hit by a barrage of missile strikes and artillery.
The situation in the eastern Ukrainian city of Lysychansk has been described as “extremely difficult”, with Russian shelling making it impossible for civilians to evacuate.
UK foreign secretary Liz Truss has said that pushing Russian forces out of Ukraine completely was a “realistic” ambition and justification for providing additional weapons.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has said that a new “iron curtain” is appearing between Russia and the West.
Russia accused Norway of disrupting critical supplies from being delivered to Svalbard on Wednesday, threatening to retaliate. But Norway said that it was not blocking access to the archipelago in the Arctic, stating that it was only applying international sanctions and that the Russians had other ways of getting there.
NATO leaders have called Russia “the most significant and direct threat to allies’ security and stability” and announced a new “strategic concept” in response to President Vladimir Putin’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. NATO is planning to boost its quick reaction forces from 40,000 troops to over 300,000 troops.
U.S. President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. will increase its military forces across Europe.
NATO has also formally invited Sweden and Finland to become members of the alliance. The move comes after Turkey agreed to support Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said Sweden and Finland will formally sign the NATO accession protocol on Tuesday.
Turkey had initially opposed the countries’ bids to join the military alliance, accusing both of harboring Kurdish militants. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto and Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson at the NATO summit in Madrid and the three countries reached an agreement.
President Erdogan has since said that Turkey could still block Finland and Sweden from joining the Alliance if they failed to meet his expectations to extradite people designated by Turkey as suspected terrorists.
