As a result of a massive missile attack by Russia on Kyiv that occurred on May 14, the number of fatalities has reached four. This was reported by the city police, noting that all victims died in the Darnytsia district of the capital.
This is reported by Finway
Details of the tragedy and the course of the rescue operation
According to law enforcement, among the deceased are two men aged 21 and 30, as well as a woman whose identity is currently being established. Their bodies were found under the rubble of a destroyed entrance of a multi-story building. Another man, who was caught in the shelling at a gas station, died in the hospital after being hospitalized.
The number of injured, according to police, stands at 39, including an infant. However, according to the clarification from the city mayor Vitali Klitschko, the injured now number 44, including a child. Thanks to the prompt work of the State Emergency Service, 28 people were rescued, and search and rescue operations continue.
“Two men aged 21 and 30, and a woman – whose identity is currently being established – were freed from the rubble of the destroyed entrance of the apartment building,” law enforcement officials state.
Consequences of the attack and the qualification of Russia’s actions
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko noted that as of the morning, 10 people are considered missing, and their search is ongoing. According to official reports from the Air Forces, on the night of May 14, the Russian army carried out a massive attack using 675 strike drones, three Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missiles, 18 ballistic missiles, and 25 cruise missiles. Ukrainian air defense forces managed to destroy 693 aerial targets by 8 a.m.
Russian military forces systematically carry out attacks on Ukrainian cities using various types of weapons, including strike drones, missiles, aerial bombs, and multiple launch rocket systems. Such actions, aimed at civilian infrastructure and residential areas, are regarded by the Ukrainian authorities and international organizations as war crimes of the Russian Federation.
Shelling of the population’s life support systems and medical facilities, aimed at depriving citizens of electricity, heat, water, communication, and medical assistance, has signs of genocidal actions. Human rights defenders emphasize that Russia is committing crimes during the large-scale war that may fall under the definition of genocide: this includes the targeted destruction of Ukrainians, the devaluation of the Ukrainian nation, and mass public calls for violence.
The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, adopted by the UN in 1948, obliges 149 member countries to prevent acts of genocide during war and in peacetime. According to the document, genocide is actions intended to destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group in whole or in part, which includes killings, causing serious bodily harm, creating unbearable living conditions, preventing childbirth, and forcibly transferring children to another group.
At the same time, the Russian leadership denies any involvement in targeted attacks on civilian infrastructure or the population of Ukraine, despite numerous evidence of the destruction of hospitals, schools, kindergartens, energy, and water facilities as a result of missile strikes.