- Wildlife populations plunge 73% since 1970: WWF
- 'Sleeper agent' bots on X fuel US election misinformation, study says
- Death toll rises to 109 after Haiti gang attack, official says
- Tigers beat Guardians and on brink of advancing in MLB playoffs
- Argentina MPs back Milei's veto of university funding
- Man City sink Barca in Women's Champions League as Bayern outgun Arsenal
- Greek international Baldock, 31, found dead in pool: state agency
- Florida seaside haven a ghost town as hurricane nears
- Pharrell Williams to co-chair Met Gala exploring Black dandyism
- Wall Street indices hit fresh records as Chinese shares tumble
- Taiwan's president to deliver key speech for National Day
- Sea row on the menu as ASEAN leaders meet China's Li
- Injured Kane won't start England's Nations League clash with Greece
- Discord seen as online home for renegades
- US forecasts severe solar storm starting Thursday
- Mozambique starts tallying votes in tense election
- Zelensky moves to court European leaders in drive for military aid
- Ratan Tata: Indian mogul who built a global powerhouse
- Rodgers rejects 'false' suggestions of role in Saleh dismissal
- One dead as storm Kirk tears through Spain, Portugal, France
- Indian business titan Ratan Tata dead at 86
- Lebanon facing 'catastrophic' situation as 600,000 displaced: UN
- US warns Israel not to repeat Gaza destruction in Lebanon
- Musk's X returns in Brazil after 40-day showdown with judge
- Call her savvy? Harris unleashes unconventional media blitz
- Lucian Freud 'masterpiece' fetches £13.9 million at London sale
- SoFi Stadium to hold next two CONCACAF Nations League finals
- McIlroy and DeChambeau set for PGA-LIV 'Showdown' in Vegas
- Fed minutes highlight divisions over rate cut decision
- Steve McQueen debuts new WWII film at London festival
- Run blitz edges India and South Africa closer to World Cup semi-finals
- Zelensky to court European leaders in drive for military aid
- Israel captain says 'difficult' to focus on football in time of war
- Macron to host Ukraine's Zelensky after meeting Ukrainian troops
- Root says 'many more to get' after England Test runs landmark
- India pile up World Cup high to rout Sri Lanka
- One year later, Israeli hostage family learns of loss
- Texans receiver Collins, Pats' safety Peppers out for NFL clash
- Biden-Netanyahu talk as Hezbollah, Israeli forces clash
- Musk's X available again in Brazil after 40-day ban
- Reddy stars as India crush Bangladesh to clinch T20 series
- Nobel winners hope protein work will spur 'incredible' breakthroughs
- What are proteins again? Nobel-winning chemistry explained
- Arch rivals Ghana, Nigeria drawn together in CHAN qualifying
- AI steps into science limelight with Nobel wins
- Trump lauds India's Modi as 'total killer'
- Wall Street, Europe rise as Chinese shares tumble
- Hunkering down for Hurricane Milton at Disney -- but first, a few rides
- Reddy, Rinku power India to 221-9 in second Bangladesh T20
- Overshooting 1.5C risks 'irreversible' climate impact: study
'Revenge': Russia strikes break eery quiet in battered Mykolaiv
Several days of calm in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv came to an abrupt end around breakfast-time Tuesday, when a Russian rocket strike ripped a gaping hole through local government building, killing seven people.
AFP journalists saw dust-covered rescue workers in hard hats pull two bodies from the debris as they searched for survivors: a man in uniform and an elderly woman, whose body they covered in a green sheet.
"Most people escaped miraculously," regional governor Vitaly Kim wrote on Facebook, confirming that regional government office had been targeted.
Initially, he said, several civilians and soldiers were unaccounted for.
Later -- during an address to Danish lawmakers -- President Volodymyr Zelensky described the true scale of the strike.
"As far as we know now seven people were killed, 22 were wounded, and people are still going through the rubble," Zelensky said in a video address to the parliament.
"I was having breakfast in my apartment," Donald, 69, a retired Canadian postal worker with Ukrainian residency told AFP. "I heard a whoosh, then a boom and my windows rattled.
"It's scary. We have been lucky here in Mykolaiv. We haven't had that many explosions in the centre of the city," he added.
The tall administrative building was left with a large section torn away, its rows of windows all blown out and its base surrounded by large chunks of concrete.
In the aftermath of the attack, you could look through the massive hole left in the building to see the cloudless spring sky on the other side.
- 'He wants revenge' -
Mykolaiv, a key southern port city, has seen fierce fighting since Moscow launched its invasion late last month. But it had been quiet in recent days until Tuesday morning's strike.
The Russian army has been falling back southeast towards Kherson, the only major Ukrainian city it claims complete control of -- and now the focus of a Ukrainian counter-offensive.
Outside a nearby residential complex, locals shaken by the blast -- some still in their pyjamas -- exchanged information about the attack and observed the damage.
Among them was Yelena Dovgykh, 65, in slippers and carrying a little dog and a plastic bag with documents under her arm.
She was making breakfast when she heard the strike, she told AFP. "I went down just as I was. I took my papers and my dog."
Another resident, Svetlana Fedorenko, cut her hand picking up broken glass from her balcony and living room kitchen. But she has known worse, she insisted.
"Putin is a bastard. That's all there is to it," said Viktor Gaivonenko, a neighbour who came to help her clean up the debris, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He was targeting governor Kim and Zelensky because "they boost the morale of the people and our soldiers," said Fedorenko.
"He wants to get revenge for the resistance Mykolaiv is putting up that's blocking him from reaching Odessa," she added.
Governor Kim appeared to agree.
Russian forces "realised they couldn't take Mykolaiv and decided to say hello to me, to say hello to all of us," Kim wrote after the strikes, adding that his own office had been destroyed.
Mykolaiv is a key city on the road to Odessa, Ukraine's biggest port, and its capture would be a significant one for Russia's invasion of Ukraine, launched in late February.
Just a day before the attack, residents had been marking the 78th anniversary of the liberation of Mykolaiv from the Nazis by Soviet Red Army troops towards the end of World War Two.
"We drove out the Nazis in 1944," Ukraine's defence ministry said in a statement this week to mark the occasion.
"We will not give the Russian fascists a chance in 2022."
Th.Berger--AMWN