Major damage in Ukraine after Slavyansk was hit by Russian shelling
Russia is raising “real hell” in eastern Ukraine, according to a local governor, after deadly missile strikes hit the embattled country overnight.
Serhii Haidai, who leads Luhansk province, said there had been no “operational pause” announced by Russian troops, who were “still attacking and shelling … with the same intensity as before.”
The governor said there had been 20 artillery, mortar and rocket strikes overnight in his province, whose last major resistance stronghold was captured by Russia last week.
The deadly blows continue to fall elsewhere as Ukraine continues to struggle with the Russian invasion, which has now turned its attention to the East.
Five people were killed and eight others wounded in Russian shelling on Friday in Siversk and Semigoria in Donetsk region, regional governor Pavlo Kirilenko said on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Russian rockets reportedly killed two people and wounded three others on Saturday morning in the southern city of Kryvyi Rih.
Ukraine has urged its allies to send more weapons to the country as its chief negotiator said a turning point in the war was beginning to emerge.
Key points
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The only way out: the volunteers saving Ukrainians from hell at the front
To escape the worst-hit areas of the war, the most vulnerable Ukrainians rely on volunteers who use buses to transport people to safety. Bel Trew joined one such convoy in Donbass.
The only way out: the volunteers saving Ukrainians from hell at the front
To escape the worst-hit areas of the war, the most vulnerable Ukrainians rely on volunteers who use buses to transport people to safety. Bel Trew joined one such convoy in Donbass
Joe Middleton July 8, 2022 7:57 pm
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‘True hell’: Ukraine reports more civilian casualties after heavy Russian strikes in east and south
Russia was accused of creating “veritable hell” in Ukraine’s eastern industrial centers this weekend after shelling and numerous civilian deaths were reported in the south and east of the country.
Despite speculation that Vladimir Putin’s forces had taken an operational pause after capturing the town of Lisichansk, the last major Ukrainian resistance stronghold in the Luhansk region, this was denied by the region’s governor, Serhii Haidai, on Saturday.
Moscow’s forces “are still attacking and shelling our lands with the same intensity as before,” Mr. Heidi said, later saying that Russian bombardment of Luhansk had stopped because Kyiv’s forces had destroyed Russian-held warehouses for ammunition and barracks.
Read the full story here:
Ukraine reports more civilian casualties as Russian strikes unleash ‘real hell’
Kyiv urges residents of Kherson and Zaporozhye to evacuate as it prepares for ‘large-scale battle’
Holly Bancroft July 9, 2022 11:59 pm
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Russian missile strikes are causing widespread damage in eastern and southern Ukraine, regional officials say
Russian rocket and missile strikes have caused extensive damage in eastern and southern Ukraine, it has been reported.
Regional official Pavlo Kirilenko said four civilians were killed in a strike on Siversk, a town in the Donetsk region.
Civilian areas in Druzhkovka were also hit.
Holly Bancroft July 9, 2022 10:58 pm
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Ukrainian governor: Russia is creating “real hell” in the east
Russian forces are managing to “create real hell” in Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland despite estimates that they have taken an operational pause, a regional governor said on Saturday, while another Ukrainian official urged people in Russian-occupied southern regions to evacuate quickly “with all possible means ” before a Ukrainian counter-offensive.
Deadly Russian shelling has been reported in eastern and southern Ukraine.
The governor of the eastern Luhansk region, Sergi Haidai, said Russia had launched more than 20 artillery, mortar and rocket strikes on the region overnight and its forces were pushing towards the border with Donetsk region.
“We are trying to contain the armed formations of the Russians along the entire front line,” Haydai wrote on Telegram.
Last week, Russia captured the last major stronghold of the Ukrainian resistance in Luhansk, the city of Lisichansk.
Analysts predicted that Moscow’s troops would likely take some time to rearm and regroup. But “so far there has been no operational pause announced by the enemy. He is still attacking and shelling our lands with the same intensity as before,” Haiday said.
In a later publication, he claimed that the Russian bombardment of Luhansk had ceased because Ukrainian forces had destroyed ammunition depots and barracks used by the Russians.
Holly Bancroft July 9, 2022 9:38 pm
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Zelensky fired several senior envoys abroad
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday fired several of Kyiv’s top envoys abroad, including the country’s outspoken ambassador to Germany, the presidential website said.
In a decree that did not give a reason for the move, Zelensky announced the dismissal of Ukraine’s ambassadors to Germany, India, the Czech Republic, Norway and Hungary.
It was not clear whether the envoys would be assigned new positions.
Zelensky urged his diplomats to rally international support and military aid for Ukraine as it tries to repel Russia’s February 24 invasion.
Kyiv’s relations with Germany, which is heavily dependent on Russian energy supplies and is also Europe’s largest economy, are particularly sensitive.
Andrii Melnyk, who was appointed by Zelensky’s predecessor as ambassador to Germany in late 2014, is well known among politicians and diplomats in Berlin.
The 46-year-old regularly engages in frank exchanges on social media and has branded politicians and intellectuals who oppose arming Ukraine to fight the Russian invasion as appeasers.
He once accused German Chancellor Olaf Scholz of behaving like an “insulted sausage” when Scholz did not immediately accept Zelensky’s invitation to visit Kyiv.
Kyiv and Berlin are currently at loggerheads over a German turbine undergoing maintenance in Canada. Germany wants Ottawa to return the turbine to Russian gas giant Gazprom to pump gas to Europe.
Holly Bancroft July 9, 2022 8:34 pm
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In the photo: Burning houses in Konstantinovka after a Russian strike
Here are some more photos after the cluster missile strike:
Burnt houses after the Russian strike on Konstantinovka
(REUTERS)
A house burns after a Russian military strike in Konstantinovka
(REUTERS)
Zoe Tidman July 9, 2022 7:02 pm
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What is behind the Russian invasion of Ukraine?
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to rage months after the first troops entered.
Joe Somerland takes a look at his origins:
Why did Putin start the conflict between Russia and Ukraine?
Why did Vladimir Putin invade Ukraine?
Zoe Tidman July 9, 2022 6:34 pm
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Ukraine thanks the US for military support
The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine thanked the US for the recent package of military support:
Zoe Tidman July 9, 2022 6:04 pm
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Crop Destruction Survey
Ukraine’s national police force said it was opening a criminal investigation into the alleged destruction of crops by the Russian army in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine.
In a post on Telegram, he accused Russian troops of preventing residents from putting out fires in fields and otherwise sabotaging the harvest. “Due to the continuous shelling, it is extremely difficult to put it out [field] fires in the de-occupied territories, and in the occupied lands the Russians deliberately do not allow fires to be extinguished,” the police said.
Zoe Tidman July 9, 2022 5:30 pm
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The Konstantinovka cluster missile strike
Russian strikes continue to fall on Ukraine in both cases.
On Saturday, cluster rockets hit a residential area in Konstantinovka, a city in the Donetsk region in the east of the country.
Cluster rockets fell on a residential area in Konstantinovka on Saturday
(AP)
A house burst into flames after cluster rockets hit Konstantinovka
(AP)
Zoe Tidman July 9, 2022 5:02 pm
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