Russia carries out two mass rocket strikes on Ukraine killing at least five people

Russia has carried out two mass rocket strikes on Ukraine on Saturday, devastating an apartment block in the south-central city of Dnipro, where at least five people have died and 39 were injured. Rescue workers are still clearing the rubble at the scene.

During the second attack in the afternoon, one rocket hit a nine-storey apartment in Dnipro, destroying an entire stretch of the building. Rescue workers have so far retrieved 15 bodies from the rubble and were working to retrieve others, according to the deputy head of the presidential administration, Kyrylo Tymoshenko. He posted a picture of a crane, saying people still in their apartments were using their phones to catch the attention of rescue workers.

The head of the Dnipro regional administration, Valentyn Reznichenko, said five people had been killed and 39 people wounded, including six children.

A residential house in the village of Kopyliv, Kyiv region, was also destroyed in the first attack on Saturday morning, but no casualties have been reported.

One village suffered a hit during a rocket attack on the Odeskyi district of Odesa region, and fragments of a downed missile hit transport infrastructure involved in the grain agreement, according to authorities.

The latest spate of attacks came as the UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, announced the UK would provide Ukraine with about 12 Challenger tanks as well as artillery systems.

In early January, France, Germany and the US committed to providing armoured fighting vehicles, also a first, but have thus far put off calls for tanks.

The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War assessed that Russia probably controls almost all of the town, but it did not think a win in Soledar would result in Russia taking over Bakhmut.