Live blog: Russian missile, drone attacks in Ukraine kill 23 people – Kiev

Friday, April 28, 2023

Russia has fired more than 20 cruise missiles and two drones at Ukraine early Friday, killing at least 23 people, almost all of them when two missiles slammed into an apartment building in the centre of the country, officials said. Three children were among the dead.

The missile attacks included the first one against Kiev, Ukraine's capital, in nearly two months, although there were no reports of any targets hit. The city government said Ukraine's air force intercepted 11 cruise missiles and two unmanned aerial vehicles over Kiev.

The strikes on the nine-story residential building in central Ukraine occurred in Uman, a city located around 215 kilometres south of Kiev. Seventeen people died in that attack, according to the capital region's governor, Ihor Taburets. They included two 10-year-old children and a toddler.

The Ukrainian national police said 17 people were wounded and three children were rescued from the rubble. Nine were hospitalised.

The Russian Defence Ministry, however, said that its strategic bombers had carried out what it called high-precision missile strikes on Ukrainian army reserve units overnight to prevent them from getting to the frontline.

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1746 GMT — 5 EU states agree deal on Ukraine food exports

Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia have agreed a deal to allow the transit of Ukrainian food exports, the European Commission, after temporary bans were imposed on the foodstuffs amid farmer protests.

Russia's attack has severely limited the traditional export channel of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea, necessitating export overland via Ukraine's neighbours.

Member states agreed to allow the import of certain products from Ukraine without quantitative restrictions, and without customs and official inspections.

1553 GMT — Zelenskyy says asked Xi for help with deported children

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had asked his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to help bring back Ukrainian children deported by Russia.

"We need to involve everyone ... to put pressure on the Russian aggressor and the terrorists who kidnapped so many of our children," Zelenskyy said.

"The UN, many others want to do something, but so far the results have been poor. So I have appealed to the leader of China," he said.

Xi and Zelenskyy spoke by phone on Wednesday, the first known call between the two leaders since the start of Russia's offensive.

1238 GMT — Russian strikes on Ukrainian civilians amount to 'war crimes', says EU

The EU considers Russia's missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian civilians to be war crimes, an official from the bloc said.

"The Russian attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure constitute war crimes," the European Commission's lead spokesperson on foreign affairs, Peter Stano, told reporters.

He pointed out that Russia has been carrying out "reckless drone and missile strikes against Ukraine's population" on a daily basis since the war between the two countries broke out in February last year.

Stano also condemned overnight bombings in the Dnipropetrovsk and Cherkasy regions on Friday that "targeted civilian people while they are sleeping" and injured or killed "a number of innocent people, including children."

1227 GMT — UN body deplores 'grave' rights abuses by Russia in Ukraine

A United Nations committee said it was deeply concerned about human rights violations by Russian forces and private military companies in Ukraine, including enforced disappearances, torture, rape and extrajudicial executions.

In its findings on Russia, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination called on the Russian authorities to investigate allegations of human rights violations committed during the war in Ukraine.

"The Committee was deeply concerned about the grave human rights violations committed during the ongoing armed conflict by the Russian Federation's military forces and private military companies ... ," it said in a statement.

There was no immediate comment from the Russian permanent mission to the United Nations in Geneva.

0114 GMT — Ukraine envoy says UN not perfect, but proved effective

Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Nations Sergiy Kyslytsya said there may be no other country in the world where citizens pay such heed to debates at the UN General Assembly or Security Council about their nation.

"The United Nations is clearly not perfect," he said, recalling decisions even dating back to its founding in 1945.

"We should not really have illusions about the United Nations. That's true. On the other hand, do we have an alternative to the United Nations? No," Kyslytsya said.

The envoy cited the many resolutions in the General Assembly calling for Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine. The last vote, near the February anniversary of the conflict, saw 141 nations vote in favour, seven against and 32 abstaining.

"It was a very serious blow against Russia, that was already spreading this narrative that the world (was) tired, that the world lost interest in that war," he said.

Even with such achievements in his nation's favor, Kyslytsya offered an evaluation of UN shortcomings and said he remains optimistic.

0059 GMT — Ukraine allies sent 1,550 armoured vehicles, 230 tanks: NATO

NATO allies and partner countries have delivered more than 98 percent of the combat vehicles promised to Ukraine during Russia's attack and war, the military alliance's chief has said, giving Kiev a bigger punch as it contemplates launching a counteroffensive.

Along with more than 1,550 armoured vehicles, 230 tanks and other equipment, Ukraine's allies have sent “vast amounts of ammunition” and also trained and equipped more than nine new Ukrainian brigades, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said.

More than 30,000 troops are estimated to make up the new brigades. Some NATO partner countries, such as Sweden and Australia, have also provided armoured vehicles.

"This will put Ukraine in a strong position to continue to retake occupied territory,” Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels.

For our live updates from Thursday (April 27), click here.