At Least 15 Killed When Russian Rockets Hit Ukraine Apartment Block

CHASIV YAR / KYIV — At least 15 people were killed and another 20 were trapped after a Russian Ulagan rocket collided with a five-story apartment. In the Donetsk region of Ukraine, where there is a risk of being killed, local officials said Sunday when rescue teams passed through the rubble.

Ukraine also reported a clash with Russian troops on the eastern and southern fronts, but Moscow said the troops had a US-made M777 Howitzer (a type of artillery) near Kostyantynivka in the Donetsk region. He said he had attacked a Ukrainian army hanger in storage.

Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said the apartment strike took place on Saturday night in the town of Chasiv Yar. Local paramedics killed at 15:00 on Sunday, adding that another 24 people could be under the rubble.

“We rushed to the basement. At first there were three hits somewhere in the kitchen,” said the rescue team when they removed the body of the white sheet and cleaned up the rubble. A local inhabitant named Ludmila said. With a crane and his hand.

“Second strike, I don’t remember. There was a lightning bolt, I ran towards the second entrance and went straight into the basement. We sat there all night until this morning.

President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andrie Jermac, said in a telegram post that the strike was “another terrorist attack” and, as a result, Russia as a national supporter of terrorism. He said he needed to specify.

Russia, which states that it is conducting a “special military operation” to demilitarize Ukraine, has denied intentionally attacking civilians. There is.

Luhansk and Donetsk make up the eastern industrial region of Ukraine, which has been Europe’s largest battlefield for generations. Russia is trying to take control of Donbus on behalf of the separatists it supports.

Moscow states that expelling Ukrainian troops from the region is central to what is called a “special military operation” to ensure their own security. This is an attack that lasted for more than four months, and the West has not been provoked.

AMERICAN HOWITZERS

Russian troops attacked a Ukrainian camp near the town of Slovyansk in Donetsk, but were forced to withdraw, Ukrainian troops said, and Russian troops were in the northeast. Kharkiv from their side of the border added that they launched a cruise missile attack on the city of Ukraine. Details of the damage and casualties have not been disclosed.

Luhansk Governor Serhiy Gaidai said Russian troops are gathering in the area of ​​Bilohorivka village, about 50 km (30 miles) east of Slovyansk.

“The enemy … has bombarded the surrounding settlements and carried out airstrikes, but still cannot quickly occupy the entire Luhansk region,” he said in a telegram.

Russia claimed control of the entire Luhansk Oblast last weekend.

The Russian Defense Ministry destroyed two vaults near the Donetsk town of Kostyantynivka, which holds U.S.-made M777 howitzers, which it said was used to bombard Donetsk’s residential areas. Said.

Reuters was unable to independently verify the battlefield account.

A Ukrainian spokesman did not get immediate comments.

Ukrainian troops have intensified resistance and the West has imposed drastic sanctions on Russia to withdraw Russia.

In the south, Ukrainian troops fired missiles and artillery at Russian camps, including ammunition depots in the Chornobaivka area, Ukrainian military command said.

LAVROV WALKS OUT

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged the international community to work together to condemn Russia’s invasion on a trip to Asia. He said he expressed concern to China’s Wang Yi over Beijing’s partnership with Moscow.

The two met for more than five hours as bystanders to a gathering of G20 foreign ministers in Bali, Indonesia. Russia’s Sergey Lavrov came out of the meeting there on Friday and accused the West of “enthusiastic criticism.”

Just before Russia’s invasion, Beijing and Moscow announced an “unrestricted” partnership, but U.S. officials said China evaded U.S.-led sanctions on Russia. Said he had never seen it offered to Russia. Military equipment.

Zelensky dismissed some of Ukraine’s senior foreign envoys on Saturday, saying they were “part of normal diplomatic practice.” He said he would appoint new ambassadors to Germany, India, the Czech Republic, Norway and Hungary.

Zelensky urged his diplomats to strengthen international support and high-end weapons to slow Russia’s progress.

Ukraine suffered a diplomatic retreat on Saturday, and Canada announced that it would return the repaired turbines used by Russia’s state-owned Gazprom to supply Germany with natural gas. Ukraine claimed that the return violated sanctions against Russia.

(Report by Max Hander at Kieu and Reuters bureaus, written by Andy Sullivan, Robert Barcel, Francis Kelly, edited by William Mallard, William McLean, Pravin Char)