Death toll from Russian rocket attack on housing block rises to 24 -Ukraine

The death toll from a Russian rocket attack that hit an apartment block in eastern Ukraine over the weekend rose to 24 on Monday while rescuers searched for survivors in the ruins, the State Emergency Service said. Brick by brick, rescuers picked through a huge mound of rubble that remained of a collapsed five-storey block struck late on Saturday in the town of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk region.

The death toll from a Russian rocket attack that hit an apartment block in eastern Ukraine over the weekend rose to 24 on Monday while rescuers searched for survivors in the ruins, the State Emergency Service said.

Brick by brick, rescuers picked through a huge mound of rubble that remained of a collapsed five-storey block struck late on Saturday in the town of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk region. A Reuters reporter saw rescuers lift a survivor from the ruins to a stretcher and carry away the bodies of two people in white bags. Soldiers also helped with the rescue effort.

Nine people have been rescued so far, the State Emergency Service said. Russia, which invaded Ukraine in what it calls a special military operation, denies targeting civilians.

Russia's Defence Ministry said on Monday it had destroyed the temporary deployment of a Ukrainian territorial defence unit in Chasiv Yar. Russia is expected to focus the brunt of its assault on eastern Ukraine in the region of Donetsk after claiming the capture of the neighbouring Luhansk region. Together, the regions make up the Donbas.

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