President Zelensky’s adviser quits after suggesting a Russian missile that killed 41 people in Dnipro had been SHOT DOWN by Ukraine

• Adviser Oleksiy Arestovych announced his resignation in a post on social media
• It came after his comments prompted a furious reaction from Ukrainians
• At least 41 people were killed in Saturday missile strike, with dozens still missing 

Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych quit on Tuesday after outcry over his suggestion the Russian missile that killed at least 41 people in the city of Dnipro had been shot down by Ukraine.

Arestovych announced his resignation on Facebook after publicly apologising and rowing back on his comments in a post on the Telegram messaging app.

The Ukrainian Air Force says the apartment building was hit by a Russian Kh-22 missile, which Kyiv does not have the equipment to shoot down.

‘I offer my sincere apologies to the victims and their relatives, the residents of Dnipro and everyone who was deeply hurt by my prematurely erroneous version of the reason for the Russian missile striking a residential building,’ Arestovych wrote.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych (left) quit on Tuesday, posting a photo of his resignation letter along with a statement on social media (right). Arestovych rowed back on his comments after he suggested the Russian missile that killed at least 41 people in the city of Dnipro had been shot down by Ukraine

‘I offer my sincere apologies to the victims and their relatives, the residents of Dnipro and everyone who was deeply hurt by my prematurely erroneous version of the reason for the Russian missile striking a residential building,’ Arestovych wrote in this post on Facebook

Meanwhile, the death toll from the missile strike on the building in the east Ukrainian city of Dnipro rose to 44, Dnipro mayor Borys Filatov said on Tuesday.

‘I am here. Already 44 dead,’ Filatov wrote on Facebook, making clear he was visiting the scene of Saturday’s attack. Regional authorities said earlier on Tuesday that a child’s body was among the latest retrieved from the rubble.

Filatov did not say how many people were still unaccounted for. Emergency services said on Tuesday that it chances were ‘minimal’ that any more people would be found alive in the rubble of the wrecked building.

Rescue workers have cleared about 90% of the rubble during a 63-hour search since Saturday’s strike, according to Valentyn Reznichenko, the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region. There are 79 wounded people, he said, with 28 of them hospitalized and 10 in serious condition. 

Hours after the missile strike, Arestovych, who appears regularly on YouTube to provide updates on the war, initially said it appeared that the Russian missile had fallen on the building after being shot down by Ukrainian air defences. 

‘It was shot down, it fell on an entryway. It exploded as it fell,’ he said.

The comment, which deviated from the official Ukrainian account, caused widespread anger in Ukraine. It was also noticed by Russian authorities who appeared to allude to him when they blamed Kyiv for the strike. 

Mayor Filatov demanded that Ukrainian intelligence responded directly to denounce Arestovych’s claim, while Ukrainian parliament deputy Oleksiy Goncharenko presented a collection of signatures demanding his resignation.

Taking to Facebook to announce his resignation and apologise, but also hit out at those he claimed were working to ‘spin this topic’, Arestovych criticised the ‘level of hate’ directed towards him after his comments.

The death toll from the missile strike on the building in the east Ukrainian city of Dnipro rose to 44, Dnipro mayor Borys Filatov said on Tuesday. Pictured: Rescuers work on a residential building destroyed after a missile strike, in Dnipro on January 16, 2023

Emergency crews have cleared about 90% of the rubble during a 63-hour search since Saturday’s strike, according to Valentyn Reznichenko, the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region. There are 79 wounded people, he said, with 28 of them hospitalised and 10 serious

Arestovych was an advisory to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky (pictured last week), who has denounced the missile strike as a war crime

Heartbreaking video shows father celebrating birthday party with daughters before he was killed in rocket attack: Click here to read more

‘No matter for what reason and how the audience heard it, I will still be strict to the information that I convey,’ he wrote of the social media platform.

‘I sincerely apologise to the victims and their relatives, the residents of the Dnieper and everyone who was deeply wounded by my premature error version of the reason the Russian missile hit a residential building. 

‘The level of hate towards me is incomparable with the consequences of an error on the air. This brought neither reputational nor legal consequences for Ukraine.’

He claimed those spinning the topic ‘have very specific goals.’

‘Moscow expands it to weaken Ukrainian information influence (including Russians),’ he wrote. ‘Ukrainian opposition attacks power in this way, earning political points during the war, thinking about future elections.

‘Working to divide Ukrainians at crucial moments of history is the Kremlin’s most successful strategy, which it has successfully used for the last 400 years, or maybe more. The work of our opposition to divide Ukrainians and search for traitors for political dividends is a game that the Kremlin skillfully used and still uses,’ he added.

He said Russia was making ‘a conscious bet on the hatred of Ukrainians against Ukrainians, a bet on division, on political games in a warring country before months of heaviest fighting is the path to losing the war.’

The latest deadly Russian strike on a civilian target in the almost 11-month war international triggered outrage.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky- who called the strike a ‘war crime’ – vowed to bring those responsible to justice, saying it’s ‘a fundamental task’ for Ukraine and its Western allies.

‘This strike at Dnipro, as well as other similar strikes, falls, in particular, under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court,’ he said in a Monday video address.

‘And we will use all available opportunities – both national and international – to ensure that all Russian murderers, everyone who gives and executes orders on missile terror against our people, face legal sentences. And to ensure that they serve their punishment,’ he said.

Pictured: People watch as rescue workers search through the rubble for survivors of a Russian strike on a high-rise residential building in Dnipro

Flowers are placed at a memorial as emergency workers continue to search the remains of a residential building that was struck by a Russian missile Saturday on January 16, in Dnipro

EU presidency holder Sweden condemned the attack ‘in the strongest terms’, with Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson telling reporters that ‘intentional attacks against civilians are war crimes’.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also condemned the strike, with his spokesperson calling it ‘another example of a suspected violation of the laws of war’.

Britain’s Ministry of Defence said on Tuesday that the weekend barrage of long-range missiles, the first of its kind in two weeks, targeted Ukraine’s power grid.

But the ministry identified the missile that slammed into the Dnipro apartment building as an anti-ship missile that ‘is notoriously inaccurate when used against ground targets as its radar guidance system is poor at differentiating targets in urban areas.’

Similar missiles were used in other incidents that caused high civilian casualties, it said, including a strike on a shopping mall in Ukraine’s central city of Kremenchuk last June.

Such incidents have helped stiffen international support for Ukraine as it battles to fend off the Kremlin’s invasion. The winter has brought a slowdown in fighting, but military analysts say a new push by both sides is likely once the weather improves.

The Kremlin claimed its forces were not responsible and pointed to an unsubstantiated theory circulating on social media that Ukrainian air defence systems had caused the damage.

‘The Russian armed forces do not strike residential buildings or social infrastructure. They strike military targets,’ Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Russia has repeatedly denied targeting and hitting civilian homes and infrastructure, often blaming Kyiv – despite ever-mounting evidence to suggest otherwise. 

To withstand Russian attacks, Ukraine has been pressing Western backers to supply it with advanced tanks, in particular the German-designed Leopard.

Britain this weekend pledged 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine, which would make it the first Western country to supply the heavy tanks Kyiv has been calling for. Pictured: A challenger 2 Main Battle Tank pictured during a Land Combat demonstration in October 2018 (file photo)

Berlin has been heavily criticised over its stuttering response to the war in Ukraine.

After months of criticism – and a series of gaffes – German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht resigned on Monday. 

Her resignation comes days before the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, which coordinates arms supplies to Kyiv, is due to meet in Germany.

Britain this weekend pledged 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine, which would make it the first Western country to supply the heavy tanks Kyiv has been calling for.

Putin on Monday slammed Kyiv’s ‘destructive’ policies that ‘bet on the intensification of hostilities with the support of Western sponsors who are ramping up the supplies of weapons.’ Peskov told reporters that ‘these tanks are burning and will burn.’      

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