A 12-year-old girl was killed in a Russian strike on Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region early on Tuesday, according to regional governor Serhiy Lysak.
He added that the drone strike injured three others, including another six-year-old girl. Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said the two children became trapped under the rubble of a house that was destroyed in the attack.
Rescuers said they were able to pull both children from the rubble, but one succumbed to her injuries in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.
On Monday, Lysak issued a mandatory evacuation order for four villages in the east of Dnipropetrovsk, near the border with Donetsk, where Russian forces continue to advance.
Donetsk has been at the epicentre of fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces. Russian troops have not yet been able to enter Dnipropetrovsk, but have regularly targeted the region with with drones, missiles, and aerial bombs.
At least eight people were killed in Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day, according to regional authorities.
Ukraine’s Air Force reported that Russia fired 100 drones into Ukraine overnight, 37 of which were shot down.
Zelenskyy calls Russian ceasefire proposal ‘manipulation’
Moscow has intensified attacks on Ukraine even after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a unilateral 72-hour ceasefire to be held next week.
Putin has ordered the truce will run from the start of 8 May and last through the end of 10 May to mark Moscow’s defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the proposal “another attempt at manipulation” and urged Russia to agree to a longer one beginning sooner.
“For some reason, everyone is supposed to wait until May 8 before ceasing fire — just to provide Putin with silence for his parade,” he added.
Putin also announced a 30-hour ceasefire over Easter, and Zelenskyy said he was ready to reciprocate, but Russian attacks continued. Moscow in turn accused Ukraine of failing to halt its attacks.
Russia and Ukraine had also earlier pledged to observe a 30-day halt on strikes on energy infrastructure brokered by the US, but they repeatedly accused each other of massive violations until the measure expired.
Up until now, Putin has refused to accept a complete unconditional ceasefire, demanding first an end to Western arms supplies to Ukraine and Ukraine’s mobilisation effort.
Additional sources • AP, EBU