Russian forces hit by missile attack in Ukraine

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Russian forces hit by missile attack in Ukraine

KYIV: A missile demolished an apartment block on Thursday October 6 in a Ukrainian region Moscow said it had annexed, killing seven people, a Ukrainian official said, as discontent in Russia about the handling of the war by the top brass.

The regional governor said that some people were buried under rubble after the attack on the city of Zaporizhzhia in the southern region of the same name. There has been no immediate comment from Russia, whose invasion of Ukraine has begun to unravel after a Ukrainian counteroffensive in which thousands of square miles of territory have been taken over since September, including dozens of settlements in recent days.

Thousands of Russian troops have retreated after the front line crumbled, first in the northeast, and also in the south since the beginning of the week. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address on Thursday that Kyiv's forces recaptured more than 500 sq km of territory and dozens of settlements in the southern Kherson region alone in October.

In rare, but growing public criticism of Russia's top military officials, Kirill Stremousov, the deputy head of the Russian-backed administration in Kherson region, slammed generals and ministers in Moscow for not understanding the problems on the front lines.

There was no immediate comment from Russia's defence ministry.

There has been a lot of discontent among the loyalist state TV hosts.

What is the genius idea of the general staff? One of the most prominent Russian talk show hosts, Vladimir Solovyov, said on his livestream channel.

They the Ukrainians have hugely increased their weapons but what have you done in that time? Images of the aftermath of Thursday's missile strike showed a gaping, rubble-strewn hole where a five-storey apartment block used to stand next to a wine shop.

Reuters saw firefighters bringing a father and son down a ladder and talking to an older man still trapped under rubble.

Eduard, a 49-year-old man who survived the attack, said he was woken by a strong explosion at around five in the morning. The room was filled with smoke and dust. He said I jumped up to see what had happened.

Regional governor Starukh said emergency crews had rescued 21 people. He had earlier put the number of injured at 12, including a three-year-old child.