Russian strike kills at least 51 in Ukraine

Aftermath of Russian attack on Lviv, Ukraine — Many students and teachers did not have enough time to reach bomb shelters

(Image credit: Yuriy Dyachyshyn / AFP via Getty Images)

What happened

At least 51 people were killed Tuesday when two Russian ballistic missiles struck a military academy and hospital in the Ukrainian city of Poltava, officials said. More than 270 others were injured. The morning strike on Poltava, about 100 miles from the Russian border southeast of Kyiv, was the deadliest single attack in Ukraine this year. Moscow has been slamming the country with daily missile and drone barrages for a week and a half. Early Wednesday strikes in Lviv, near Ukraine's border with Poland, killed at least seven people, including children, the city's mayor said.

Who said what

The Russian missiles hit the main building of the Poltava Military Institute of Communication in rapid succession, just minutes after the air raid sirens sounded, Ukrainian officials and witnesses said. Ukraine's Defense Ministry said many students and teachers did not have enough time to reach bomb shelters. The academy "trains officers in communications and electronics, as well as drone operators," The Associated Press said, "honing some of the most valued skills" in the war.

The Poltava attack "highlighted how a shortage of air-defense systems is leaving Ukraine vulnerable to Russian strikes," The Wall Street Journal said. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pleaded on social media for "everyone in the world who has the power to stop this terror" to send "air defense systems and missiles now," not leave them "sitting in storage." Ukraine also urgently needs approval for "long-range strikes that can protect us from Russian terror," he said. First lady Olena Zelenska said "Russia is taking away our most valuable asset, our lives.”

What next?

Zelenskyy ordered an investigation into the Poltava attack. Several member of his government, including Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, submitted their resignations Wednesday ahead of a major Cabinet reshuffle.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.