At least 51 people have been killed and 271 others injured following a Russian missile strike on the city of Poltava in central Ukraine.
According to the BBC, the attack, which occurred early Tuesday morning, targeted a military academy and a nearby hospital, resulting in significant casualties among military personnel, according to Ukraine’s land forces.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defence reported that many victims did not have enough time to reach bomb shelters after the air raid alarms sounded.
Speaking on the tragedy, President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack and vowed that the perpetrators would be held accountable, referring to them as “Russian scum.”
He also renewed his calls for more air defense systems to help Ukraine defend itself through long-range missile capabilities.
Moscow has yet to comment on the strike.
Eyewitness accounts describe the devastation caused by the missile strike. Mykyta Petrov, a 26-year-old cadet who recently started training at the Poltava Military Communications Institute, recounted the harrowing moment the attack unfolded just after 9:00 a.m. local time. “I ran outside, there was smoke and dust everywhere…lots of people were outside having a cigarette, and many were killed,” he said.
“The psychological impact on him was severe, as he described seeing “too much blood, too many dead bodies.”
Contrary to initial reports from Russian military bloggers suggesting that cadets were gathered for a military parade at the institute, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence confirmed that no parade was taking place at the time of the strike. Alarms had sounded at 9:08 a.m., and explosions followed just minutes later.
The strike has had a profound impact on the local community.
A 30-year-old resident, Jana Kulishova, was woken by the air raid siren but did not have enough time to reach a shelter.
Her husband is currently fighting on the front lines in the Donbas region, making the attack deeply personal for her.
“Soldiers have died here, and I know there are still soldiers under the rubble. Their wives are waiting for them,” she said.
Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncharenko criticized the short response time between the air raid siren and the missiles landing, noting that two minutes was “nothing” in such situations.
“Just imagine you’re on the sixth floor of some building and you need to run away downstairs. Is it realistic that you can do this in two minutes?” he asked, underscoring the daily struggle faced by many Ukrainians.
In a statement on Telegram, Ukraine’s land forces confirmed the deaths of military personnel and announced that an investigation was underway to determine whether enough was done to protect those at the facility. Additional safety measures are set to be implemented at military sites.
Search and rescue operations are ongoing, with Poltava regional governor Philip Pronin describing the attack as a “cunning and cynical Russian strike.” He confirmed that 15 people were still believed to be trapped under the rubble, and that 10 residential buildings had been damaged.
Ukraine’s First Lady, Olena Zelenska, expressed her grief on social media, calling the attack “a stunning tragedy for all of Ukraine,” and lamented that “Russia is taking away the most valuable thing from us – life.”
