President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday condemned Russian people's "cowardly silence" following the missile strike on a tower block in the city of Dnipro that has killed at least 30 people. As rescue efforts continue, the mayor of Dnipro has said the chances of recovering more survivors from the rubble is now "minimal". Follow our blog to see how the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+1).
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02:50am: Expanded US training for Ukraine forces begins in Germany
The US military's new, expanded combat training of Ukrainian forces began in Germany on Sunday, with a goal of getting a battalion of about 500 troops back on the battlefield to fight the Russians in the next five to eight weeks, said Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Milley, who plans to visit the Grafenwoehr training area on Monday to get a first-hand look at the program, said the troops being trained left Ukraine a few days ago. In Germany is a full set of weapons and equipment for them to use.
Until now the Pentagon had declined to say exactly when the training would start.
11:50PM: Belarus says joint air force drills with Russia are defensive only
Belarus' Security Council said on Sunday that joint air force drills with Russia, due to run from Jan. 16 to Feb. 1, were defensive in nature and would focus on reconnaissance missions and how to thwart a potential attack, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.
The exercises were "exclusively defensive in nature," said Pavel Muraveyko, the council's first deputy state secretary, was quoted as saying. "They would work on "aerial reconnaissance, deflecting air strikes, air cover of important objects and communications."
A flurry of military activity in the country has triggered fears in Kyiv and the West that Russia could use its ally - which acted as a springboard for Russia's invasion last February - to mount a new ground offensive on Ukraine.
8:44pm: Zelensky condemns Russians' 'cowardly silence' over Dnipro strike that killed at least 30
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday condemned Russian people's "cowardly silence" following the missile strike on a tower block in the city of Dnipro that has killed at least 30 people.
Speaking in Russian Zelensky he said he wanted to address those Russians "who even now could not utter a few words of condemnation of this terror...
"Your cowardly silence, your attempt to 'wait out' what is happening, will only end with the fact that one day these same terrorists will come for you," said Zelensky in his evening address.
The Ukrainian leader said that the victims of the missile strike included a 15-year-old girl and that two children had reportedly been left orphans.
6:16pm: Deaths from strike on Ukraine apartment building rise to 29
The death toll from a Russian missile strike on an apartment building in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro rose to 29 Sunday, the regional governor reported as rescue workers continue attempts to rescue survivors from the rubble.
The deaths reported in Dnipro are the most civilians killed in one place since a September 30 strike in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, according to The Associated Press-Frontline War Crimes Watch project.
5:48pm: Belarus says joint air force drills with Russia are defensive only
Belarus' Security Council said on Sunday that joint air force drills with Russia, due to start next week, were purely defensive in nature and would focus on reconnaissance missions and how to thwart a potential attack, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.
Minsk also said it was "ready" for any "provocative actions" by Ukraine, as a flurry of military activity in the country has triggered fresh fears in Kyiv and the West that Russia could be preparing to use its ally - which acted as a springboard for Russia's invasion last February - to mount a new ground offensive on Ukraine.
5:01pm: NATO chief Stoltenberg says more heavy weaponry for Ukraine in 'near future'
Ukraine can expect more deliveries of heavy weapons from Western countries soon, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview with German media on Sunday.
"The recent pledges for heavy warfare equipment are important – and I expect more in the near future," Stoltenberg told the Handelsblatt daily.
The comments come ahead of a meeting this week of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, which coordinates arms supplies to Kyiv, at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
"We are in a decisive phase of the war," Stoltenberg said. "Therefore, it is important that we provide Ukraine with the weapons it needs to win. ... [Putin] overestimated the strength of his own armed forces. We see their missteps, their lack of morale, the leadership problems, the poor equipment," he said, adding that the Russians "have demonstrated that they are prepared to take heavy losses to achieve their goals".
3:41pm: Deaths reported after ammo explosion in Belgorod, Russia
Three people were killed and 13 injured in an ammunition explosion in Russia's Belgorod region, RIA Novosti news agency reported on Sunday, citing local emergency services.
Authorities said earlier on Sunday that 10 Russian servicemen were injured in the blast in a cultural centre.
3:18pm: Deaths from strike on Dnipro apartment building rise to 25
The death toll from a Russian missile strike on an apartment building in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro rose to 25 Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelensky reported as rescue workers scrambled to pull survivors from the rubble.
Zelensky reported that at least 73 people were wounded and 39 people had been rescued as of Sunday afternoon. The city government in Dnipro said 43 people were reported missing.
“Search and rescue operations and the dismantling of dangerous structural elements continues. Around the clock. We continue to fight for every life,” the Ukrainian leader said.
2:27pm: Mayor says 'minimal' chance of finding Dnipro survivors as death toll rises to 23
The chances are "minimal" of pulling more survivors from the wreckage of an apartment building in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro that was hit by a Russian missile strike on Saturday, the city's mayor told Reuters in an interview on Sunday.
The death toll from a Russian missile strike on an apartment building in the southeastern city of Dnipro rose to 23 by Sunday afternoon, the local government reported. In addition, at least 72 people have been reported wounded and 43 people missing. It said 39 people had been rescued from the rubble so far.
1:43pm 10 Russian soldiers injured in blast in near Ukraine border, emergency services report
Ten Russian soldiers were injured in a blast in the Belgorod region, the TASS news agency reported on Sunday, citing emergency services.
TASS said the blast occurred in a cultural centre in the region, which borders Ukraine.
1:37pm: ‘They're preparing themselves and so are we’: Ukrainian soldiers ready on northern front
Russian forces left northern Ukraine's Sumy region in late March, but this part of the front line has never really gone quiet. "There were 55 strikes on this region in the last 24 hours, including a couple on our sector," said Ukrainian soldier Andzhei. "According to our intelligence [the Russians] are building up positions that they could later use for offensive actions on this position," added another Ukrainian soldier, Vadym. "So, they're preparing themselves and so are we, and we are ... letting them know that we're here," Vadym continued.
Ukraine insists that it will take back all of the currently occupied territories, but officials have also been saying that they expect to have to defend in the coming weeks and months against renewed Russian offensives on multiple fronts, perhaps including this one. FRANCE 24's Gulliver Cragg reports from the front line.
12:33pm: Putin says 'positive dynamic' in Russia's Ukraine offensive
Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed a "positive dynamic" in the Ukraine offensive on Sunday after Moscow claimed victory over the frontline city of Soledar, which Kyiv has denied.
"There is a positive dynamic, everything is developing according to plans," Putin said, answering a question from a journalist on the special operation and Soledar, adding "I hope that our fighters will please us more than once again."
10:35am: 'Hard for Ukrainians to take'
"The scale of this attack in Dnipro – and also the power of those pictures that we're seeing; the picture of that person on a higher floor in what seems to be the remains of her bathroom, waiting to be rescued in the ruins; other images, absolutely horrific, coming out of Dnipro – seem to have caused it to be particularly hard for the Ukrainians to take," FRANCE 24's Gulliver Cragg reported.
"The reaction is one of anger [...] at Russia, and Russians in general. There's a metro station in Kyiv called Friendship Among Peoples, implying friendship among Russian and Ukrainian peoples. It was announced yesterday that that metro station is going to be renamed. I don't think that's in reaction at the attack on Dnipro, but it's a coincidence that shows you what the dominant feeling is in Ukraine at the moment."
9:03am: Toll from strike on tower block in Dnipro rises to 20, Ukrainian official says
The death toll rose to at least 20 on Sunday after a strike on a residential building in Dnipro Saturday, a city in centre-east Ukraine, the Ukrainian regional governor said.
"Twenty innocent victims..." Dnipropetrovsk governor Valentyn Reznichenko said on messaging app Telegram, after posting that 73 were wounded and that "the rescue operation continues. The fate of more than 40 people remains unknown."
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and REUTERS)
