8 Dead, Including 2 Children in Russian Overnight Attacks on Dnipropetrovsk Region

Russian missile attacks on Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region early morning Friday, April 19 killed at least eight people, including three children.

Ukraine's State Emergency Service reported that another 29 people were injured.

The Russians attacked Ukraine overnight with 22 missiles of various types and 14 kamikaze drones, Ukrainian Air Force stated. The Air Force said that it shot down 29 of its 36 targets.

Using an S-200 air defense system, in a first, the Air Force also shot down a long-range bomber plane, the TU-22M3 (NATO: Backfire), that was part of the attack, spokesperson Illya Yevlash told AFP. 

“This was the plane that bombed Dnipro and Kryvyi Rih. We took our revenge for our cities and civilians," Yevlash said.

“Unfortunately, there are also hits,” Dnipropetrovsk Governor Serhii Lysak stated in a Telegram post at 7:39 a.m.

Synelnykove

Six of the people killed, including a 6-year-old and 8-year-old child, were from the town of Synelnykove, where the Russians' attack partially destroyed four homes, and damaged 10 private buildings, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko stated.

Dnipro

In Dnipro, the capital of the Dnipropetrovsk region, the State Emergency Service reported at 9:03 a.m. that two people died and 20 were injured.

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A Russian missile also hit a residential building in Dnipro, the capital of the Dnipropetrovsk region.

Dnipro Mayor Borys Filatov said that the attack struck in the center of the city.

“Unfortunately, we are at war with bastards who do not have any traits of humanity,” he said.

In the initial 6:21 a.m. report, Lysak reported that a five-story residential building in Dnipro was on fire.

“It is partially destroyed. There may be people under the rubble. So far, six people have been injured,” he said.

The fire was localized to an area of about 1,000 square meters, State Emergency Services said.

Lysak later said that along with the residential building, two “infrastructure objects” were damaged and that two people in the oblast capital had been killed and 15 injured.

Ukrzaliznytsia

In an 8:21 post, the Ukrainian national railway company, Ukrzaliznytsia, reported that there were injuries among railway workers.

“The enemy carried out a targeted mass attack” on Ukrzaliznytsia infrastructure in the Dnipropetrovsk region, it stated.

In a 9:36 post, Ukrzaliznytsia said that it was continuing to asses the damage done by the attack and that three train routes would be significantly delayed.

Kryvyi Rih

“About 10 missiles were shot down in the sky over the region. But there is a hit in an infrastructure object of the city,” head of the Kryvyi Rih Military Administration Oleksandr Vilkul said. 

Vilkul said that three people, men aged 43 and 53, and a woman aged 58 were injured in Kryvyi Rih.

Zelensky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is from Kryvyi Rih, extended his condolences to the families and friends of those killed in the attack.

“Every country that provides air defense systems to Ukraine, every leader who helps persuade our partners that air defense systems should not be stored in warehouses but deployed in real cities and communities facing terror, and everyone who supports our defense is a lifesaver. We must defeat Russian terror. It is necessary not only for our country and Ukrainians, but for the entire world,” he said. 

At 10:18 a.m. the Prosecutor General's Office had updated the number of dead from eight to nine, when a third child allegedly died in hospital.

However, at 12:09 p.m. it posted that in fact, a 6-year-old boy thought to have died survived, thanks to doctors' efforts.

Chernihiv

The Dnipropetrovsk region attacks were preceded by deadly Russian attacks overnight April 17-18 that struck the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv. 

According to the State Emergency Service, 18 people died, and 77 were injured, including 4 children in those attacks. 

G7

“We condemn Russia’s recent missile and drone strikes against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and cities across Ukraine,” G7 foreign ministers stated after meeting in Italy Friday.

“We are determined to ensure full accountability and we support Ukraine in obtaining compensation for the loss, injury and damage resulting from Russia’s aggression.” 

This story will be updated as new information becomes available.