At least one killed, 12 injured in Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s Dnipro

KYIV (Reuters) -A Russian missile strike hit a nine-storey residential building in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Friday, killing at least one person and injuring 12 others, officials said.

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko warned the death toll would likely rise as more people remained trapped in the building where four upper storeys collapsed as a result of the attack.

Later statements from the Interior Ministry said the fire at the site had been extinguished, the remains of one person had been detected underneath the rubble and two people were listed as missing.

Regional governor Serhiy Lysak said 12 people had been injured, including a 7-month-old infant. Three people were in severe condition.

A photograph published by Lysak on the Telegram messaging app and other images circulated on social media showed a badly damaged building that had smoke rising from a gaping hole in its upper storeys. Other pictures showed emergency crews making their way around piles of rubble.

Reuters could not independently verify the photos.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Ukraine’s allies to step up supplies of air defences to help the military intercept Russia’s regular aerial attacks.

Dnipro, which had a pre-war population of almost one million people, is a major Ukrainian city that lies on the road to the east of the country where the most intense fighting with Russian forces is raging.

It has been regularly targeted by missile and drone strikes since Russia launched its February 2022 invasion. Russia denies targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, but thousands of people have been killed.

(Reporting by Yuliia DysaWriting by Tom BalmforthEditing by Peter Graff, Diane Craft and Ron Popeski)