2 dead after Russian glide bomb hits apartment block

A Russian glide bomb hit an apartment building in the northern Ukrainian city of ⁠Sumy yesterday, killing two people and injuring seven, according to Ukrainian officials.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, writing on the Telegram messaging app, denounced the "absolutely inhuman strike".

Mr Zelensky said emergency crews had rescued four people after the attack and warned that others could still be trapped under rubble.

"There was a direct hit by an aerial bomb between the third and fourth floors. Four people have already been rescued from under the rubble, ‌including a child," he ⁠said.

Mr Zelensky posted pictures on Telegram showing the shattered façade of the building and rescue workers making their way through debris.

The head of Sumy city council said the two people who died were city employees.

Regional Governor Oleh Hryhorov said three of the seven injured were in ‌a serious condition.

Sumy, near the Russian border, has been a frequent Russian target in an area where Moscow says it wants ⁠to establish a buffer zone.

President Zelensky said Russian forces had also hit a clinic in the central ⁠city of Pavlohrad and a logistics centre outside Kyiv, but provided no details ‌on casualties.

An earlier Russian strike on the northeastern Ukrainian city of Balakliia ⁠killed two ‌people and wounded two, Vitali Karabanov, the head of the city's military administration, said on Telegram.

Balakliia, located in Kharkiv region, was captured by Russian forces in the ⁠early weeks of Moscow's February 2022 full-scale invasion of its smaller neighbour, but was retaken by Ukrainian troops in a large counteroffensive later in the year.

The Ukrainian capital Kyiv had come under a Russian missile attack earlier in the evening, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said, but there was no indication of casualties or damage.

Both Russia and Ukraine deny ‌targeting civilians in the war.