Russian glide bomb hits apartment in Ukraine’s Sumy, two dead, seven injured

Sept 18 (Reuters) – A Russian glide bomb hit an apartment building in the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy on Friday, killing two people and injuring seven, leaving three of ​them in serious condition, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and other ‌officials said.

Zelenskiy, writing on the Telegram messaging app, denounced the “absolutely inhuman strike”. He said emergency crews had rescued four people after the attack and said others could still be trapped under rubble.

“There was a direct hit by an aerial ‌bomb ​between the third and fourth floors. Four ⁠people have already been rescued ⁠from under the rubble, including a child,” he wrote. “There may still be people under the rubble.”

Zelenskiy posted pictures on Telegram showing the shattered facade of the building and rescue workers making their ​way through debris.

The head of Sumy city council said the two dead were city employees.

Regional Governor Oleh Hryhorov said three of ⁠the seven injured were in a ⁠serious condition. Among the injured was a 13-year-old girl.

Zelenskiy ​said Russian forces had also hit a clinic in the central ​city of Pavlohrad and a logistics centre outside Kyiv, but ‌provided no details on casualties.

An earlier Russian strike on the northeastern Ukrainian city of Balakliia killed two people and wounded two, Vitali Karabanov, the head of the city’s military administration, said on Telegram.

Sumy, near ⁠the Russian border, has been a frequent Russian target in an area where Moscow says it wants to establish a buffer zone.

Balakliia, located in ⁠Kharkiv region, was ‌captured by Russian forces in the early weeks ⁠of Moscow’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of its ​smaller neighbour, ‌but retaken by Ukrainian troops in a large ​counteroffensive later ⁠in the year.

The Ukrainian capital Kyiv had come under a Russian missile attack earlier in the evening, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said, but there was no indication of casualties or damage.

Both Russia and Ukraine deny targeting civilians in the war.

(Reporting by Ron Popeski, Editing by Franklin Paul ​and Nia Williams)