The death toll from Tuesday's rocket attack on the city of Poltava in central Ukraine has risen. 55 people died and 328 were injured, the Ukrainian State Emergency Service reported. It added in a statement that people are probably still trapped under the rubble of the Military Communications Institute building.
Poltava, located in the central part of Ukraine, was attacked on Tuesday. Russian forces used ballistic missiles.
“The number of people killed in the Russian missile attack on the educational institution in the city has risen to 55. It is likely that people are still under the rubble,” the Ukrainian rescue service reported. 328 people were injured. The statement emphasized that “rescuers cleared and removed over two thousand tons of rubble.”
Poltava in Ukraine Google Maps
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that one of the buildings of the Institute of Communications had been destroyed. The BBC later specified that the target of the Russian attack was the Poltava Military Institute of Communications.
Rescue teams at the site of the attack in Poltava Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine/Telegram
Poltava region authorities have declared three days of mourning. You can still donate blood for the wounded.
Attack on Poltava, many dead and wounded TVN24
The investigation begins
Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky announced Tuesday evening that the ground forces command is conducting an investigation “to determine whether enough has been done to protect the lives and health of servicemen” in the building. Syrsky also wants to determine whether the facility's management “was functioning properly under conditions of constant missile threats from the enemy.”
Russian propaganda channels on Telegram reported that the attack was carried out using Iskander missiles during a gathering of Ukrainian troops.
The Ministry of Defense in Kiev denied these reports. It said that there was no meeting and that the attack occurred while classes were taking place at the institute.
Services at the site of the attack by Russian forces in Poltava DSNS of Ukraine/Facebook
Mobilized and students
Ukrainian parliament deputy Solomiya Bobrovskaya stressed in an interview with Radio Svoboda that it is necessary to consider how to more effectively prevent attacks on such facilities. According to her, the institute that was shelled housed both mobilized people and those who studied there and underwent advanced training.
Bobrowska suggested that information about the number of people and the composition of the staff could have been passed on to the Russian services by local collaborators. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the effectiveness of the activities of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in all cities, she noted.
Ukrainian Truth, Suspilne, NV, PAP, tvn24.pl
Main image source: EPA/STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE OF UKRAINE