Emergency services at work at the site where a home was badly damaged by a Russian missile attack (Photo: Reuters)

The death toll in a Russian missile attack on a nine-story apartment complex in south-central Ukraine has risen to 23.

Rescuers worked through the night after the rocket attack on the Dnipro block, but at least 40 people are still missing.

A child is also among the dead, according to the state rescue service.

According to the latest update from the Dnipro City Council, at least 72 people were injured, including 13 teenagers.

It is feared that many more will be buried under the rubble of the apartment building that housed 1,100 people.

The chances of pulling more survivors from the rubble are “minimal,” said the city’s mayor, Borys Filatov.

Rescue workers search for missing residents of the apartment building (Photo: Getty)

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DNIPRO, UKRAINE - JANUARY 15: A local resident is rescued from under the rubble of her 4th floor apartment, 16 hours after Russian forces bombed a residential building in Dnipro, Ukraine on January 15, 2023. At least 20 people were killed on Saturday after a missile hit the apartment building, part of a new wave of missiles launched by Russia. Ukraine's president said his troops shot down 20 of 30 missiles launched by Russia on Saturday. (Photo by Pierre Crom/Getty Images)

A woman is pulled from the rubble of her fourth-floor apartment 16 hours after the strike (Image: Reuters)

Dnipro, Ukraine – January 15: Rescue workers search for missing residents after Russian forces bombed a residential building in Dnipro, Ukraine on January 15, 2023. At least 20 people were killed on Saturday after a missile hit the apartment building, part of a new wave of missiles launched by Russia. Ukraine's president said his troops shot down 20 of 30 missiles launched by Russia on Saturday. (Photo by Pierre Crom/Getty Images)

About 1,100 people lived in the building (Photo: Getty)

DNIPRO, UKRAINE - JANUARY 15: A local resident rescues his cat from the rubble after Russian forces bombed a residential building in Dnipro, Ukraine on January 15, 2023. At least 20 people were killed on Saturday after a missile hit the apartment building, part of a new wave of missiles launched by Russia. Ukraine's president said his troops shot down 20 of 30 missiles launched by Russia on Saturday. (Photo by Pierre Crom/Getty Images)

A man rescues his cat from the rubble (Image: Getty)

DNIPRO, UKRAINE - JANUARY 15: Firefighters conduct search and rescue operations in the rubble of a destroyed residential building after a Russian missile strike during the Russia-Ukraine war in Dnipro, Ukraine on January 15, 2023. The death toll reached 20, including a 15 year old. (Photo by Mustafa Ciftci/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Firefighters worked all night to find survivors (Picture: Getty)

Rescue workers carry an injured woman after a Russian missile hit a multi-story building in Dnipro, Ukraine, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Yevhenii Zavhorodnii)

Rescue workers carry an injured woman on a stretcher (Photo: AP)

“May God help us find some. I think the death toll will run into the dozens,” he added.

About 72 homes were destroyed and more than 230 homes were partially damaged, leaving hundreds homeless in the dead of winter.

The building was hit on Saturday during a spate of Russian attacks on Ukraine, the latest attack on critical infrastructure in recent months that has plunged the country into darkness and killed civilians.

As Mr. Filatov spoke, rescuers were digging through broken concrete and bent metal from part of the building.

He said he believes the missile, which he called the “absolutely inaccurate” X-22, was probably aimed at a nearby power plant.

“But the missile flew past and hit a residential building,” he said.

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