Rescue teams with sniffer dogs combed through the debris Friday in a central Ukrainian city looking for people still missing after a Russian missile strike a day earlier killed at least 23 people and wounded over 100 others.
Russian forces, meanwhile, pounded other sites in a relentless push to wrest territory from Ukraine and try to soften the unbending morale of its leaders, civilians and troops as the war nears the five-month mark.
Thursday's cruise missile strikes on the Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia launched by a Russian submarine were the latest incidents to take civilian lives and fan international outrage since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion on Feb. 24.
Even as the fighting raged, Russia noted signs of progress in talks on a possible deal to allow Ukraine to export millions of tons of grain via the Black Sea that could help feed a world facing higher food prices.
Alluding to talks in Istanbul this week among Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Nations, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said a final document had been prepared and Russian proposals to help ease grain shipments through Ukrainian ports have been “largely supported” by other participants.
He said work on a document called “Black Sea initiative” was set to be completed “in the nearest time.” The Russian proposal would allow shipments of food “while excluding the use of those logistical chains for the deliveries of weapons and military equipment” to Ukraine. He also said the plan seeks to "prevent any provocations.”
About 22 million tons of grain have been stuck in Ukraine because of the war.
That was most extensive Russian comment yet on the grain talks, which mostly involved military officials. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Russia and Ukraine had taken “a critical step” to ensuring exports of the desperately needed grain to help ease a global food crisis — but said more technical work toward finalizing a deal was needed.
Russia's military campaign now has been focusing on Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, but Russian forces regularly fire upon targets in many other parts of the country too.
Ukraine's Interior Ministry said Friday that Russian forces had conducted more than 17,000 strikes on civilian targets during the war, killing thousands of fighters and civilians and driving millions from their homes. The invasion has also rippled through the world economy by hiking prices and crimping exports of key Ukrainian and Russian products like grain, fuel and fertilizer.
More than 73 people — including four children — remained hospitalized and 18 people were missing after Thursday's strike, said Oleksandr Kutovyi, spokesman for the emergency service in the Vinnytsia region. Search teams were poring over two sites on Friday — an office building with a medical center, and a concert hall near an outdoor recreation area where mothers with children often stroll.
Vinnytsia Gov. Serhiy Borzov said only 10 people among the dead had been identified so far. “Russia deliberately hit civilians and all those responsible for the crime must be brought to account,” he said, denouncing the “barbaric behavior by Russia that tramples on international humanitarian law.”