Image: ANATOLII STEPANOV (APA/AFP/ANATOLII STEPANOV)
The Ukrainian media reported on Saturday, citing rescue services. Residents are still missing under the rubble. A two-year-old child is said to be among the dead. More than 20 people are said to have been injured.
According to Russian sources, the Russian mercenary group Wagner has gained further ground in Bakhmut. Two other parts of the city were taken, Russian news agencies quoted the Ministry of Defense as saying on Saturday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Russia a “diabolical state”.
Zelenskyy offered his condolences to the relatives after the death of the civilians and wrote in a post accompanied by footage of a damaged building: “He just kills people in broad daylight. Ruin, destroy all life.” In his nightly video address, Zelenskyy said that in the run-up to the Orthodox Easter services this weekend, not a single hour had passed “without Russian murders and terror.” “This is an evil state,” reiterated the President, “and it will be the loser. Victory is our duty in the face of this kind of humanity.”
Eastern Ukrainian governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on state television that seven Russian S-300 missiles had been fired at Sloviansk. An S-300 missile damaged five apartment blocks and five private homes. Seven people are being searched for in the rubble. Sloviansk is located in the Ukrainian-controlled part of the Donetsk region around 45 kilometers north-west of the city of Bakhmut, which Russia has called Artemowsk, which has been the subject of heated debate for months. According to Russian military information, soldiers from the Wagner mercenary unit advanced further into the city on Friday. Meanwhile, Kyiv sent reinforcements to Bakhmut.
The Donetsk region is one of the four Ukrainian regions that Putin announced plans to annex in September, although Moscow has only partial control of the regions. Since the start of the invasion of Ukraine in February of the previous year, Russian attacks there have also been directed against civilian infrastructure. There were also civilian casualties.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced additional aid pledges worth $5 billion after a week of talks in Washington. He spoke on the sidelines of the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank with representatives from those two institutions, as well as the European Investment Bank and senior US officials. “The international partners have assured us of their long-term support,” said Schmyhal.
Denmark surrenders artillery weapons to Ukraine. The Ministry of Defense in Copenhagen announced that 19 French-made “Caesar” howitzers would be delivered in the coming weeks. Ukraine had asked Denmark for the guns, the Defense Ministry said in Copenhagen. Ukraine had asked Denmark for the guns.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has called on the US to end military support for Ukraine. The United States must “stop promoting war and start talking about peace,” Lula told reporters on Saturday during his visit to Beijing. The European Union must also “start talking about peace”.
Source: Nachrichten
