President Volodymyr Zelensky stated preliminary information indicated two ballistic missiles hit the facility in the city of Poltava and a nearby hospital on Tuesday morning.

“We say again and again to everyone in the world who has the power to stop this terror: air defense systems and missiles are needed in Ukraine, not somewhere in a warehouse,” Zelensky said in a statement.

The head of the Poltava region military administration, Filip Pronin, announced the latest death toll on Telegram, adding that that rescue crews continue to clear and search through the debris at the site.

At least 10 residential buildings were damaged at the military educational institution, he continued.

Speaking about the attack, President Zelensky repeated his call on Ukraine’s Western allies to supply Kyiv with more air defenses and lift restrictions on his country’s military using their weapons to strike inside Russia.

“Long-range strikes that can protect against Russian terror are needed now, not later. Every day of delay is, unfortunately, the death of people,” he added.

Speaking to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in Kyiv, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the missile reached the target in a very short period of time. People were struck down as they were trying to get into the bomb shelter, officials said.

“The only way to intercept them was to have the Patriot system or a SAMP/T air defense system because they are the only one capable of intercepting ballistic missiles,” stated Kuleba, who added that he originally came from the Poltava region.

Ukraine has received a handful of Patriot air defense systems from the United States and Germany, although Kyiv has consistently said the number was insufficient to allow it to effectively defend itself.

The Joe Biden administration said in June it was prioritizing critical air defense capabilities for Ukraine over other countries to “ensure Ukraine’s survival”. But Kuleba made it clear on Tuesday that new weapons cannot come soon enough.

“I don’t know how many more tragedies like this have to occur for all promises to be fulfilled and for all new commitments to be made,” Kuleba added, reiterating Zelensky’s calls for more defense systems to be sent to Ukraine.

Local authorities said Tuesday was a “terrible day for Poltava” and declared three days of mourning. No more details would be released about the strike due to “security issues”, they said.

Putin’s visit to Mongolia is his first to a member state of the ICC since the Hague-based court issued a warrant for his arrest in March 2023. The warrant obliges the court’s 124-member states to detain Putin for extradition should he set foot on their soil, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said before the trip that Moscow “has no concerns” that “our friends from Mongolia” would act on the court order.

After Putin touched down smoothly, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Georgy Tykhy took to social media to complain.

“The Mongolian government’s failure to carry out the binding ICC arrest warrant for Putin is a heavy blow to the International Criminal Court and the international criminal justice system,” he wrote on X.

“Mongolia allowed the indicted criminal to escape justice, thereby sharing responsibility for his war crimes. We will work with partners to ensure that this has consequences for Ulaanbaatar,” he added.

The ICC could formally condemn Mongolia for failing to enforce the warrant. However, it lacks the authority to impose fines, sanctions, or any other penalties. It also lacks any mechanism of enforcing its own warrants, relying on member states to choose whether to obey them.

Neither Russia nor Ukraine are signatories to the Rome Statute, the 1998 agreement that established the court. Ukraine’s parliament ratified the statute last month, but included a clause stating that it would not recognize the court’s jurisdiction over cases involving Ukrainian nationals.

The ICC issued the warrant in March 2023, accusing Putin and Russian Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova of the “unlawful deportation” of children from “occupied areas of Ukraine”. Moscow rejected the accusations as absurd, pointing out that its forces were evacuating civilians from a combat zone where they faced imminent danger from Ukrainian artillery and drone strikes.