KYIV (Dispatches) - Ukrainian rescuers recovered more than a dozen more bodies from the rubble of a collapsed apartment block in Kyiv overnight, bringing the death toll from Russia’s worst air strike of the year on Ukraine’s capital to 31. 
A two-year-old was among the five children found dead after Thursday’s sweeping Russian drone and missile attack, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday, announcing the end of a more than 24-hour-long rescue operation.
A total of 159 people were wounded in the multi-wave strike, in which Russia launched more than 300 drones and eight missiles early on Thursday, the latest in a campaign of fierce strikes on Ukrainian towns and cities.
The worst damage was to an apartment building that partially collapsed in the Sviatoshyn district in western Kyiv. Damage was also reported in at least three other districts of the capital.
US President Donald Trump on Thursday sharply criticized Russia’s “disgusting” behavior against Ukraine, while saying he was not sure whether sanctions would deter Russia. He has given President Vladimir Putin until August 8 to make a deal or else he will respond with economic pressure.
Natalia Matviyenko, 65, sitting near the damaged apartment building, said she did not place much faith in Trump’s tough rhetoric.
On Friday, mourners laid flowers and lit candles at the wrecked apartment block, where rumbling excavators hoisted heavy pieces of rubble. The makeshift shrine included brightly colored stuffed animals.
On Thursday, the Russian defense ministry announced the country’s  troops have taken control of the militarily strategic town of Chasov Yar in the eastern Donetsk region.
“As a result of an offensive by Battlegroup South in the Kramatorsk-Druzhkovka area, the town of Chasov Yar in the Donetsk People’s Republic was liberated,” the ministry said in a statement.
Chasov Yar had served as a strategic stronghold and key logistical hub for Ukrainian forces in the Donetsk region.
On Friday, Germany said that it will deliver two Patriot systems to Ukraine after reaching an agreement with the U.S. that Berlin will be first in line to receive the latest systems in return.
Thanks to the U.S. commitment, “Germany can initially support Ukraine with launchers and then with additional Patriot system components,” said German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius in a statement.
The Bundeswehr army will initially deliver additional Patriot launchers to Ukraine in the coming days, followed by additional system components to be handed over in two or three months.
In return, Berlin will receive new Patriot systems, for which it is providing the funding, from the United States at an accelerated pace.
Ukraine’s needs for air defense have grown more urgent as Russia has intensified its nationwide aerial attacks this summer, and the Patriot systems have proven effective at destroying Russian ballistic missiles.
Germany has already delivered three of its Patriot systems to Ukraine and said on Friday that sending the additional systems will not affect its contribution to the NATO defense alliance.