Russia used a 6-ton X-22 missile built to sink US aircraft carriers to blow up Ukrainian homes, killing 21 civilians

RUSSIA used a six-ton ​​missile designed to sink aircraft carriers to blow up Ukrainian civilians.

At least 21 people were killed – including a 15-year-old girl – when Vladimir Putin’s forces blew up a block of flats in Dnipro.

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Ukrainian officials said the Russians used a massive X-22 – also known as a Kh-22 – anti-ship missile to level the apartments.

The missile is a six-ton ​​missile with a one-ton warhead that can be fitted with a nuclear bomb.

Russian engineers developed the weapon during the Cold War.

It was designed with the express intention of sinking US aircraft carriers should WW3 break out.

They are known as “carrier killers”.

But instead, Putin’s twisted powers shoot them at innocent people in their own homes.

The land- or air-launched missile flies toward its target at speeds of up to 3,500 miles per hour and packs potentially devastating firepower.

Ukrainian defense chief Andriy Zagorodnyuk said: “[Kh-22’s were] Originally developed in the 1960s to target airlines.

“But the Russians decided to use it against civilians.”

Russian Tu-22m3 strategic bombers from the 52nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment are believed to have fired five of the missiles at Dnipro.

And one of them hit a nine-story apartment building, completely destroying a section and leaving civilians buried alive.

Ukrainian officials said their military was unable to shoot down the X-22.

In a statement, the Air Force said: “The Armed Forces of Ukraine do not have the firepower capable of launching this type of missile.

“Since the beginning of Russia’s military aggression, more than 210 missiles of this type have been fired on the territory of Ukraine.

“None of them were shot down by air defense systems.”

They demanded new anti-aircraft systems to shoot down the missiles and protect their civilians.

Chairman of the Regional Council of Ukraine Mykola Lukashuk said 21 people were dead and 40 were still missing after the strike.

Rescuers fought all night to free a woman trapped under the rubble after hearing her voice, the state emergency services said.

The strike destroyed dozens of apartments in the Dnipro block of flats and left hundreds of people homeless

“The rescue operations continue. The fate of more than 40 people is unknown,” said regional governor Valentyn Reznichenko.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday called for more Western military weapons, saying that Russian “terror” can only be stopped on the battlefield.

“What is needed for this? These weapons that are in our partners’ warehouses,” said Zelenskyy.

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It came after Britain pledged to supply Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine – becoming the first western country to supply the heavy tanks.

The tanks would arrive in Ukraine in the coming weeks, Downing Street said, adding that Britain will also train Ukrainian forces on how to use them.

The Russian embassy in Britain warned that “the introduction of tanks into the conflict zone, far from ending hostilities, will only serve to intensify combat operations and cause more casualties, including among civilians”.

Moldova, Ukraine’s southwestern neighbor, said it found Russian missile debris on its territory after Saturday’s attacks.

“Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine is again having a direct impact on Moldova,” President Maia Sandu tweeted, posting photos of the rubble.

“We condemn today’s intensified attacks in the strongest possible terms.”

Ukraine’s energy assets on Sunday were still suffering from the 12th wave of large-scale Russian attacks on energy infrastructure in recent months.

The attacks targeted energy infrastructure in the Kharkiv, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Zaporizhia, Vinnytsia and Kyiv regions, Energy Minister German Galushchenko said.

On Sunday, operator Ukrenergo said energy infrastructure was being “restored” but the attacks had “increased the energy deficit”.

“The duration of the outages can be extended,” she admitted.

On Saturday, Ukrenergo said emergency power outages were being introduced in “a number of regions”.

Zelenskyi said Ukraine shot down 20 of the more than 30 Russian missiles fired.

“Unfortunately, energy infrastructure facilities were also hit,” he said, adding that the Kyiv and Kharkiv regions, home to the country’s second-biggest city of the same name, suffered the most.

The strikes came amid uncertainty over the fate of Soledar, a salt mining outpost that Russia had allegedly captured, though Ukraine has denied it.

Both sides have suffered heavy casualties in the battle for the city.

On Sunday, the US-based Institute for the Study of War said that “it is highly unlikely that Ukrainian forces will still hold positions within the settlement of Soledar itself.”

The industrial city with around 10,000 inhabitants before the war was reduced to rubble and ashes by fierce fighting.

Ukraine’s military governor in the eastern Donetsk region stressed on Saturday that “Soledar is controlled by Ukrainian authorities”.

“Fighting inside and outside the city continues,” he added.

On Friday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said it had completed “the liberation” of Soledar the day before.

The capture of Soledar would be a crucial win as Russian forces advance towards what has been their primary objective since October – the nearby Bakhmut transport junction.