Russian strikes on Ukrainian buildings cause death of up to 35

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The death toll from the weekend Russian missile strike An official announced Monday that 35 people have been hired to manage the Dnipro apartment building in the southeast Ukrainian city.

Regional Gov. said rescuers continued to search the rubble in search of more victims. Valentyn Reznichenko said. According to Valentyn Reznichenko, 75 people were hurt and 35 others were still missing from Saturday’s strikes.

Nearly 1,700 people lived on the multi-story building. Residents claimed that there were no military facilities at this location. The reported death toll made it the deadliest attack in one place since a Sept. 30 strike in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, according to The Associated Press-Frontline War Crimes Watch project.

The Russian cruise missiles rained down on Ukraine on Saturday, triggering the attack on the building.

Russia’s renewed air attacks came as fierce fighting raged in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk province, where the Russian military has claimed it has control of the small salt-mining town of Soledar but Ukraine asserts that its troops are still fighting.

If the Russian forces take full control of Soledar it will allow them to move closer to Bakhmut, the larger city. The conflict for Bakhmut has been going on for months and has resulted in significant casualties for both sides.

With the grinding war approaching, the 11-month markThe U.K. government declared that it would send tanks to Ukraine as its first heavy-duty weaponry donation. Officials in Ukraine believe that the modest pledge of 14 Challenger 2 tanks will be a motivator for other Western countries to provide more tanks.

Other developments for Monday:

— Russian forces struck the city of Zaporizhzhia, damaging industrial infrastructure and wounding three people, two of them children, the regional administration said.

— Russian and Belarusian air force launched a joint exercise in Belarus that will run through Feb. 1, the Belarusian Defense Ministry said. Russia has sent warplanes from Russia to Belarus to conduct the drills.

— Air defenses shot down a drone over the bay of the port of Sevastopol in Crimea early Monday, said Sevastopol head Mikhail Razvozhayev.

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Follow the AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine