The death toll from a Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s Dnipro rose to 18, officials said, as rescuers picked through the rubble of several buildings and a passenger train as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy seeks to meet US President Donald Trump to secure further guarantees of assistance to battle Russian troops.
The June 24 attack also wounded more than 200 people, officials said.
The number of fatalities rose after another person died overnight, according to regional military administrator Serhiy Lysak.
The Russian attack was the latest in the string of attacks targeting Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure across the country.
It comes as Russian ramps up its battlefield operations and Western efforts to cement a cease-fire or longer-term peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow appear to be sputtering.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha cited the Russian attack as he called on NATO leaders gathering in The Hague to do more to pressure Moscow.
Zelenskyy arrived in The Hague on June 24 to meet with Western leaders and alliance officials as aid from the previous US administration nears an end. Since Trump took office in January, it has been unclear how much more support Kyiv can rely on from the US administration.
No meeting is set for Trump and Zelenskyy on June 25, but the Ukrainian leader has said he is hoping to get some time to talk to his US counterpart.
Russian forces are grinding forward in multiple locations across the 1,100-kilometer front line. They’re also pushing toward the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy, which Ukraine’s top military commander said had become a priority for the Kremlin.
A Russian drone strike on a Sumy region village killed an eight-year-old boy and two adults, and injured three others early on June 24.
