Russian State TV Says Moscow Must 'Strike Massively' After Dnipro Attack

A pundit on Russian state television has said there must be more strikes on Ukraine, just as the city of Dnipro was counting its dead after a missile attack on a residential apartment building.

"I am very glad that we have finally begun to use the types of weapons that the Ukrainian air defense forces can't shoot down, according to them," said businessman and politician Igor Markov on the program hosted by Kremlin propagandist Vladimir Solovyov on the Russia 1 channel.

Moscow has denied that it was responsible for Saturday's attack on the residential block in the southern-central city.

"I don't know what Kyiv was hit with, I think a military expert can help us figure it out," Markov said, "but it was hit with something it can't shoot down." Saturday saw further strikes on critical infrastructure in the Ukrainian capital, which have been ongoing for weeks.

"It seems to me that we need to strike massively and get in and finish what we started in February of last year," he added. "Otherwise the number of casualties will only increase, we don't have much time."

Ukrainian internal affairs adviser Anton Gerashchenko tweeted the video on Monday as well as images of people he said were victims of "a terrorist country," including a 17-year-old named Maksym, as well as a mother and her two daughters.

Ukrainian officials said at least 40 people had been killed and that dozens are still missing after the strike. Dnipro official Gennadiy Korban wrote on Telegram on Monday that 75 people were wounded, including 14 children.

Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky said in his nightly address on Sunday that the victims included a 15-year-old girl, who was named on social media as Maria Lebid.

The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which has a team on the ground in Dnipro, said such attacks impact the delivery of aid and that it can't provide lifesaving assistance under a barrage of missile strikes.

The IRC is providing emergency kits, counselling and help for those displaced by the strikes, but alarms inevitably force them into bomb shelters.

"The attacks are hampering the work of IRC of our partners and other humanitarian actors," IRC Ukraine Country Director Marysia Zapasnik told Newsweek from Odesa. "It's just so incredibly difficult to predict where the next missile attack will be."

"We're determined to stay and deliver essential humanitarian assistance to the people who need it," she added.

The Ukrainian Air Force has said the missile that hit the apartment block was "designed to destroy aircraft carrier groups at sea."

However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that Russian armed forces "do not strike at residential buildings or at social infrastructure facilities," state news agency Tass reported.

"You yourself saw the conclusions of some representatives of the [Ukrainian] side, which said that this tragedy was the result of the action of air defense counter-missiles," he added.