Five bodies recovered from under rubble in Kyiv

Rescue workers have recovered the bodies of five people from the rubble of an apartment building in Kyiv’s Solomianskyi district that was destroyed by a Russian missile, but it is not yet clear whether the death toll of the strike has risen.

Source: Tymur Tkachenko, Head of Kyiv City Military Administration, on Telegram; Svitlana Vodolaha, spokeswoman for the State Emergency Service, in a comment to Ukrainska Pravda

Quote from Tkachenko: "I am at the scene of the strike in the Solomianskyi district. The search and rescue operation is continuing here. So far, the bodies of two Kyiv residents have been recovered from the rubble. The search continues, as there may still be people under the rubble."

Details: Forty minutes later, Tkachenko reported that five bodies had been recovered, but he did not specify whether this referred to five more people or whether it is the total number including the two bodies recovered earlier.

State Emergency Service spokesperson Svitlana Vodolaha, who is also at the scene, told Ukrainska Pravda that rescue workers have recovered a total of five bodies.

Asked whether this means that the death toll has risen by five, she explained that this was not the case.

"Yes, we initially had 14 fatalities – 13 bodies and one person who died in hospital. But we have to take into account that the rescue workers did not remove all the bodies intact: in some cases they recovered fragments – parts of arms, etc. Identification is currently underway. We’ll only be able to give the exact death toll after it’s completed," she said.

Vodolaha added that search and rescue operations at the scene continue.

Background: 

• On the night of 16-17 June, the Russians attacked Ukraine with drones and missiles. Explosions were heard in Kyiv and destruction was recorded there. Initially, 14 people in the capital were reported killed and 114 injured.
• Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko stated that a Russian missile had hit a nine-storey residential building in Kyiv, completely destroying one section of the building.
• Tymur Tkachenko said that between 4 and 14 people who lived in the building and with whom there had been no contact could be under the rubble.
• Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has called on residents of the capital to be careful and cautious, as small metal balls from the warheads of Russian missiles have been found in the city, particularly in the Nyvky area.

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