As the prospect of ceasefire talks between Ukraine and Russia emerged on Wednesday the casualties of the war were growing rapidly.
The Russian invasion has killed more than 2,000 Ukrainian civilians and destroyed hundreds of structures including transport facilities, hospitals, kindergartens, and homes, Ukraine’s emergency service said on Wednesday.
Russia announced 498 of its soldiers had been killed with 1,597 wounded, figures disputed by Ukraine who say the invading forces had suffered far more fatalities.
Four people were killed when homes in the Ukrainian city of Zhytomyr were hit late on Tuesday by a Russian cruise missile apparently aimed at a nearby airbase, Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to the Ukrainian interior minister, said on his Telegram channel. Reuters was not able to independently confirm the incident.
A video shows firefighters cutting through rubble as flames grew and smoke billowed behind them.
Ukraine’s state emergency service released footage on Wednesday showing homes obliterated and emergency services surveying the fallout in the west Ukrainian city.
A regional police department in Kharkiv was engulfed in flames on Wednesday following the Russian bombing of Ukraine’s second-largest city. Firefighters were seen battling the aftermath of the bombing as part of the structure collapsed.
At least 21 people were killed and 112 wounded in shelling in Kharkiv in the past 24 hours, regional governor Oleg Synegubov said on Wednesday.
Debris lined the streets of Kyiv on Wednesday, the day after a Russian missile hit the area around a TV tower. The explosion took place near the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial and killed at least five people.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has killed more than 2,000 Ukrainian civilians and destroyed hundreds of structures including transport facilities, hospitals, kindergartens and homes, Ukraine’s emergency service said on Wednesday.
