Ukraine says Russian shelling targets civilians in two cities northeast of Kharkiv Saturday. Ukrainian prosecutors are investigating a possible war crime after a Russian airstrike on a residential area in the regional capital Kharkiv injured six civilians, including a 13-year-old girl, a 16-year-old man and an 8-year-old boy. It was announced that there was. -old. Moscow denies intentionally targeting civilians, but thousands have been killed or injured since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
In the city of Vovtyansk, just five kilometers from the Russian border and about 70 kilometers northeast of Kharkiv, Ukrainian prosecutors said Russian shelling killed a 60-year-old woman and wounded three other civilians. .S. The Kharkiv District Prosecutor’s Office announced that two civilians, aged 70 and 83, died while attempting to leave Vovtyansk by car. “Fighting in the Vovtyansk region continues,” Ukraine’s armed defense official said. Only 100 residents remain in this town, located in the heart of Moscow’s fierce promotion, but it is now largely in ruins.
Across the border in Russia’s Belgorod region, Moscow’s Ministry of Defense announced that its forces shot down a Tochka-U missile fired by Ukraine.. Russia said a similar missile destroyed an apartment building in Belgorod last week, killing at least 15 people. Late Saturday, Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov announced that a Ukrainian drone attack had injured a woman and a man in the village of Petrovka. They were treated for shrapnel injuries in Belgorod, they wrote on the messaging app Telegram.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy reported on the success of the military in combating a new Russian offensive in the Kharkov region. In a video address in the evening, he said the Ukrainian military’s footing was now more secure.. Referring to Russia’s first invasion of Ukraine in February of the same year, President Zelenskiy said: “The occupying power has lost infantry and equipment, which is a visible loss. We look forward to a quick advance on our soil, as in 2022.” “Even though it was,” he said. His remarks came a day after he warned that Kiev had only a quarter of the air defenses it needed to maintain its front lines.
A divisive mobilization law took effect in Ukraine on Saturday as Kiev struggles to build up troops. The bill has been watered down from its original draft to make it easier to identify all conscripts in the country. It also provides incentives to soldiers, such as cash bonuses and funds to buy homes and cars. Zelenskiy also signed two other laws on Friday that allow prisoners of war to join the military and increase fines for draft evaders by five times.
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on Saturday that Russian troops had captured the village of Staritsya in the Kharkov region.Eight days after a new Russian push into the region began.
President Zelenskiy said his forces had repelled attacks further south in the eastern Donetsk region around Chasiv Yar., a city considered a prime target of the Russian campaign. “Our soldiers destroyed more than 20 armored vehicles of the occupiers,” he said.
In the village of Stanislav, south of Kherson, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin announced that a Russian drone strike had left one dead. A man in his 40s caused minor injuries to the woman. Battlefield’s account could not be immediately confirmed.
