Two dead, 23 wounded in a Russian strike on a Ukrainian medical clinic

A barrage of rockets hit a medical clinic in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Friday, killing two and injuring 23, according to the regional governor.

Of the 23 injured, 21 have been hospitalized, with three in serious condition, governor Serhiy Lysak said in a telegram post.

Volodymyr Orlov, deputy head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration, told NPR that there are no military facilities anywhere nearby.

"Look around and you will see a stadium, houses with broken windows, a veterinary clinic," he said. "All you see here is civilians."

Video and images of the scene showed smoke pouring out of a damaged three-story building, with rescue workers looking on. In a tweet, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the attack a "crime against humanity."

Two children, aged 3 and 6, were among the wounded, Lysak said. He added that one of the two casualties from the attack is a 69-year-old man who was walking near the clinic as the strike began.

Larysa Koreshkova was at home in Dnipro with her husband when she heard the whistle of the rocket and then an explosion, which blew out her windows and damaged her balcony. "My hands and legs were shaking," she told NPR. "The Russians are trying to intimidate civilians."

Tetyana, who works at the outpatient clinic next to the hospital struck by the rocket, says flying glass badly injured one of the patients in the clinic.

"We were looking everywhere to find enough bandages to help her," said Tetyana, who declined to give her last name, saying she was not authorized to speak to media.

Ukrainian officials on Friday also said they shot down Russian missiles and over 20 drones aimed at their capital city, Kyiv, and the country's eastern regions.

Russia did not immediately comment on the air strikes, but did say that a blast that damaged buildings in the Russian city of Krasnodar on Friday was caused by Ukrainian drones. There were no reported casualties.

Rescuers were still in Dnipro as of Friday morning, searching for three missing persons believed to be trapped under the rubble, Lysak said. Crews were also trying to tamp down a fire at the clinic and a neighboring building that stretched 1,000 meters.

NPR Ukraine producer Polina Lytvynova reported from Dnipro.

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