???? Live: 20 injured by Russian shelling on residential building in Dnipro

Issued on: 04/06/2023 – 06:59

5:11am: Air strike injures 20 in residential area of Dnipro, Ukrainian official says

An air strike hit a residential district in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Saturday night, injuring 20 people and leaving three children in a serious condition, officials said.

President Volodymyr Zelensky blamed Russia for the strike, saying more people were trapped beneath the wreckage.

“The Russians attacked the city,” Zelensky posted on Facebook on Saturday. “They hit between two two-story residential buildings. Unfortunately, there are people under the rubble.”

“Five children were wounded by the enemy in Pidhorodnenska community,” said Serhiy Lysak, governor of Dnipropetrovsk region. “The total number of injured increased to 20. Of these, 17 are hospitalised,” he added.

“Under the rubble of a mangled house, rescuers continue to search for people. There is probably a child there.”

4:53am: Russia’s air attack repelled on approach to Kyiv, Ukraine says

Russia launched a wave of air attacks on Ukraine early on Sunday, with air defence systems repelling all missiles and drones on their approach to Kyiv, the capital’s military officials said.

“According to preliminary information, not a single air target reached the capital,” Serhiy Popko, the head of the military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app early on Sunday.

“Air defence destroyed everything that was heading towards the city already at their distant approaches.”

Reuters could not independently verify the report.

4:39am: Drone shot down in Crimea’s Dzhankoi, says Moscow-installed official

A drone was shot down in Dzhankoi in Crimea, a Russian-installed official in the peninsula that Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014, said on Sunday.

“There is damage to windows in several houses in a residential district” from the overnight incident, Oleg Kryuchkov, an adviser in the Moscow-installed administration of Crimea, posted on the Telegram messaging app.

“All services are working. Official information – in the morning,” he said.

Reuters could not independently verify the report.

2:08am: Air defence systems engaged in repelling air attacks in Kyiv

Air defence systems were engaged in the early hours of Sunday in repelling air attacks near Kyiv, the military administration of the Ukrainian capital said on the Telegram messaging channel.

Reuters’ witnesses reported that there were several blasts heard in the Kyiv region from what sounded like air defence systems hitting targets.

All of Ukraine was under air raid alerts.

Key developments from Saturday, June 3:

Ukrainian officials announced Saturday that an inspection had found nearly a quarter of the country’s air raid shelters locked or unusable, just two days after a 33-year-old woman in Kyiv allegedly died waiting outside a shuttered shelter during a Russian missile barrage. The interior ministry said that of the “over 4,800” shelters it had inspected, 252 were locked and a further 893 “unfit for use”.

Ukraine is ready to launch its long-awaited counteroffensive to recapture Russian-occupied territory, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview published on Saturday. “We strongly believe that we will succeed,” Zelensky told the Wall Street Journal.

Read yesterday’s live blog to see how the day’s events unfolded.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and REUTERS)