At least 51 killed in one of deadliest Russian airstrikes

‘Russian scum will pay for this, vows Volodymyr Zelensky, as rescuers in Poltava pick through the rubble to find survivors

- ANDY GREGORY TOM WATLING

Two ballistic missiles hit an educational facility and nearby hospital in Ukraine yesterday, killing at least 51 people and leaving many others trapped under rubble in one of the deadliest strikes of Vladimir Putin’s war.

More than 200 people were injured in the attack, which partially destroyed the Military Institute of Communications in the central Ukraine city of Poltava, causing several stories to collapse, while the shockwaves smashed windows and damaged the exteriors of nearby high-rise buildings.

“Russian scum will pay for this strike,” the country’s president Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Telegram. “We continue to urge everyone in the world who has the power to stop this terror: Ukraine needs air defence systems and missiles now, not sitting in storage.” First lady Olena Zelenska called it a “stunning tragedy for all of Ukraine”.

Ukraine’s defence ministry condemned the “barbaric” attack, saying the time interval between air raid sirens sounding and the missiles hitting had been so short that many victims were caught up in the attack as they headed to bomb shelters.

It added that 25 people were rescued from the building, 11 of whom were pulled from under the rubble, though efforts were reportedly delayed in the immediate aftermath of the strike by constant air raid alerts.