Death toll following Russian strike on Ukrainian building rises to 35
The death toll from the weekend Russian missile strike on an apartment building in the south-eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro has risen to 35, officials said.
Rescuers are continuing to search through the rubble for more victims, regional governor Valentyn Reznichenko said.
At least 75 people were wounded and 35 others are still missing after Saturday's strike.
About 1,700 people lived in the multi-storey building, with residents saying there were no military facilities at the site.
The reported death toll made it the deadliest attack in one place since a 30 September strike in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, according to the Associated Press-Frontline War Crimes Watch project.
The strike on the building on Saturday came amid a major barrage of Russian cruise missiles across Ukraine.
Russia's renewed air attacks came as fierce fighting raged in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk province, where the Russian military has claimed it has control of the small salt-mining town of Soledar, although Ukraine asserts that its troops are still fighting.
If the Russian forces win full control of Soledar, it would allow them to inch closer to the bigger city of Bakhmut. The battle for Bakhmut has raged for months, causing substantial casualties on both sides.
With the war nearing the 11-month mark, the UK Government announced it would deliver tanks to Ukraine, its first donation of such heavy-duty weaponry.
Although the pledge of 14 Challenger 2 tanks appeared modest, Ukrainian officials expect it will encourage other Western nations to supply more tanks.
The latest Ministry of Defence (MOD) intelligence update said that "over the weekend, intense fighting continued in both the Kremina and Bakhmut sectors of the Donbas front".
"As of 15 January 2023, Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) almost certainly maintained positions in Soledar, north of Bakhmut, in the face of continued Wagner Group assaults.
"Around Kremina, fighting has been characterised by a complex series of local attacks and counter-attacks in wooded country," the MOD intelligence update added.
The latest update did, however, add that "overall, the UAF (Armed Forces of Ukraine) continue to gradually advance their frontline east on the edge of Kremina town".
"Over the last six weeks, both Russia and Ukraine have achieved hard-fought but limited gains in different sectors.
"In these circumstances, a key operational challenge for both sides is to generate formations of uncommitted, capable troops which can exploit the tactical successes to create operational breakthroughs," it added.
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