Massachusetts

Death toll in Russian attack on Poltava rises to 53, rescue efforts continue

Idris Bevan September 4, 2024

The death toll from a Russian attack on Poltava on September 3 has risen to 53 after another body was found in the rubble, the State Emergency Service reported on September 4. Around 298 people were reportedly injured.

Russia fired two ballistic missiles at the city yesterday, hitting the Military Institute of Communications and a neighboring medical facility. The building of the educational institution was partially destroyed.

“Rescue workers worked in shifts all night,” State Emergency Service spokesman Oleksandr Khoruzhnyi said on national television.

According to the State Emergency Service, 25 people were rescued, 11 of whom were trapped under the rubble. As of 10:30 a.m. on September 4, five more people may still be trapped.

There were no ceremonies or other events taking place near the military institute at the time of the Russian attack, Defense Ministry spokesman Dmytro Lazutkin said on national television, refuting such unofficial claims.

Rostyslav Lypii, 30, and Natalia Hetalo, 32, clear away shards of glass from broken windows at the taekwondo school their children attend in Poltava, Ukraine, September 3, 2024. — Rostyslav Lypii, 30, and Natalia Hetalo, 32, clear away shards of glass from broken windows at the taekwondo school their children attend in Poltava, Ukraine, on Sept. 3, 2024. The school is in a residential building near the Military Institute of Telecommunications and Information Technology, which was hit by Russian missiles. The children were not in class when the attack occurred. (Oksana Parafeniuk for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Following the air raid alert in Poltava, Ukraine, on September 3, 2024, first responders returned to the site of the Russian missile attack on the Military Institute of Telecommunications and Information Technology. — First responders returned to the scene of the Russian missile attack on the Military Institute of Telecommunications and Information Technology in Poltava, Ukraine, following the air raid alert on September 3, 2024. All first responders and rescue workers were ordered to leave the area during the air raid alert. (Oksana Parafeniuk for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Rescue workers and vehicles near the site of the Russian missile attack in Poltava, Ukraine, September 3, 2024. — Rescue workers and vehicles near the site of the Russian missile strike in Poltava, Ukraine, on September 3, 2024. (Oksana Parafeniuk for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Children ride bicycles near the broken glass of a residential building near the Military Institute of Telecommunications and Information Technology — Children ride bicycles near the shattered glass of a residential building near the Military Institute of Telecommunications and Information Technologies that was hit by Russian missiles in Poltava, Ukraine, on September 3, 2024. People in that building had broken windows and damaged doors from the blast wave. (Oksana Parafeniuk for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

According to the Defense Ministry, the students were studying and then chased into the shelter when an air raid siren went off, Lasutkin added.

“Yesterday’s tragedy in Poltava is a crime against humanity,” said Filip Pronin, governor of Poltava Oblast. “The enemy continues to terrorize Ukrainian cities.”

“The Poltava tragedy is a crime against humanity”

President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had ordered an operational investigation into the circumstances of the attack on Poltava. Ukrainian ground forces are conducting an investigation to determine “whether enough was done to protect the lives and health of the soldiers at the facility,” the military said.

Poltava is a city with around 300,000 inhabitants in the Poltava Oblast in central Ukraine. It is located around 120 kilometers from the border with Russia and 230 kilometers from the Eastern Front.

The city and the surrounding region are regularly the target of Russian drone and missile attacks.