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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Lucy Skoulding

Ukraine father killed in rocket attack during daughter’s birthday party

REUTERS

A Ukrainian father was killed during a rocket attack while celebrating his daughter’s birthday.

Boxing coach Mikhailo Korenovsky, 39, died when a missile struck the building where he lived with his family, in the city of Dnipro on Saturday.

Photos of the top floor apartment show how an entire side was blown off, revealing the family’s yellow kitchen inside.

The exterior wall of the family’s kitchen was ripped off during the attack (REUTERS)

The same kitchen can be seen in a video in which the father-of-two can be seen celebrating with his family before the attack.

The death toll from the strike has now climbed to 41 after the body of a child was found among the rubble and debris today.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has called the rocket attack a war crime.

A further 25 residents of Dnipro remain missing, according to governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Valentyn Reznichenko. After conducting a 63-hour search, around 90% of the rubble has now been cleared.

A total of 79 people were injured in the rocket strike, with 28 of these people in hospital and 10 fighting for their lives.

Rescuers work on homes in Dnipro destroyed by a Russian missile strike (AFP via Getty Images)

Mr Korenovsky, who was head trainer of the Dnipro boxing team and previously went to the Odessa Boxing School as a pupil, is shown celebrating his young daughter’s birthday along with his other family members in a video before the missile struck. His daughter is blowing out candles on a birthday cake in the video.

The dramatic photos show the scale of the devastation after the blast.

One of the walls has been completely blown off, revealing the yellow-themed kitchen inside.

A 63-hour search has already been conducted on the building in Dnipro (AP)

Many of the appliances and furniture still appear to be intact, including yellow cupboards and cabinets, work surfaces, a fridge, a microwave and a television.

A table and chairs are in the middle of the room. Debris is all over the floor and one part of the wall has collapsed onto and fallen onto the table.

Mikhailo’s two daughters, Margarita, 12, and her younger sister Marusya, are now in intensive care, local reports say. They were said to have been outside the building but still close by when the rocket hit.

So far 41 people have been confirmed dead in the Dnipro rocket strike (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

His wife, Olga, who works as a nutritionist and personal trainer, has also survived.

Mrs Korenovsky posted in the aftermath of the attack: “Instead of this hole, this is where my apartment used to be, in which I lived with my family for nine years.

“At the time of the explosion, my children and I were out for a walk... and my husband came home after a competition, ate, and was due to come out and join us.

“There is now no connection with him, either among the living or the dead.”

Emergency personnel work at the site where an apartment block was heavily damaged by a missile strike in Dnipro (REUTERS)

Speaking in a video address on Monday, Mr Zelenksy said: “This strike at Dnipro, as well as other similar strikes, falls, in particular, under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

“And we will use all available opportunities - both national and international - to ensure that all Russian murderers, everyone who gives and executes orders on missile terror against our people, face legal sentences. And to ensure that they serve their punishment.”

Russia has claimed its forces are not responsible for the attack.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said to reporters: “The Russian armed forces do not strike residential buildings or social infrastructure. They strike military targets.”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned the attack, saying it is “another example of a suspected violation of the laws of war”.

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