The death toll from a Russian strike on a building in Sloviansk, eastern Ukraine, rose to 11 on Saturday the day after a missile launch, with Moscow claiming territorial gains near Bakhmout .
“The number of victims of the shelling of Sloviansk has risen to 11 people,” spokeswoman for Ukraine’s Emergency Situations Service for the eastern Donetsk region, Veronika Bakhal, said on television.
This attack on Sloviansk, a city located 45 kilometers northwest of Bakhmout, also left 23 injured, according to the town hall.
Sloviansk, which had a pre-war population of 22,000, was targeted Friday by seven Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missiles, which damaged five buildings, five houses, a school and an administrative building, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Moscow of “brutally bombing” residential buildings and “killing people in broad daylight”.
AFP reporters saw on Friday rescuers searching for survivors on the top floor of a residential building and black smoke billowing from burning houses across the street.
Elsewhere in Ukraine, a mother and her daughter were killed on Saturday in a Russian bombardment on Kherson, in the south of the country, announced on Telegram the head of the presidential administration, Andriï Yermak.
For its part, the Russian military has claimed territorial gains on the northern and southern outskirts of Bakhmut, the epicenter of fighting for months and where Moscow’s forces have slowly advanced until they control most of it.
“Wagner’s assault units advanced successfully, capturing two blocks on the northern and southern outskirts of the city,” the Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram, reporting the “heaviest fighting” on the front.
The Russian paramilitary group Wagner, led by the sulphurous businessman Evgueni Prigojine, is on the front line in this battle, supported by artillery and army paratroopers.
According to the Russian ministry, Ukrainian troops are “retreating and deliberately destroying infrastructure and residential buildings in the city in order to slow the advance” of Russian forces.
“The (Russian) airborne troops hold the enemy on the flanks and support the actions of the assault groups in the capture of the city,” he added.
Russia said on Friday it was pushing into western Bakhmout to seize the last part of this largely destroyed city, still under the control of the Ukrainian army.
The day before, she had claimed to block Ukrainian forces in Bakhmout and prevent any reinforcements from entering there, suggesting that this city, where the bloodiest battle since the start of the Russian offensive has been taking place since last summer, was about to fall.
kyiv has denied these claims, claiming to continue to supply Ukrainian soldiers in Bakhmout and to inflict “mad losses” on the Russians.
AFP could not verify these statements from an independent source.
On the diplomatic front, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called on the United States to stop “encouraging war” in Ukraine and “start talking about peace”, after a visit to China where he is is closer to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
He also urged the European Union to “start talking about peace”.
Mr. Zelensky announced to him that he had spoken on the phone with French President Emmanuel Macron about the latter’s visit to China, whose recent comments on Taiwan have drawn criticism in Europe and the United States.
Economically, Poland decided on Saturday to ban imports of grain and other agricultural products from neighboring Ukraine to protect its own farmers, a decision Ukraine said it “regrets”.
Western countries are crucial supporters of the Ukrainian war effort, having supplied large quantities of arms and ammunition to kyiv, as well as logistical and financial support.
Volodymyr Zelensky refuses to negotiate with Moscow as long as Russian President Vladimir Putin is in power and insists on the return of all territories occupied by Russia, including Crimea annexed in 2014.
Russia has recently assured for its part that peace negotiations in Ukraine are only possible if they aim at the establishment of a “new world order” without American domination.
15/04/2023 19:58:29 – Sloviansk (Ukraine) (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
