A Russian attack last Wednesday left at least three dead at a high school in the city of Nikopol, southern Ukraine, according to Ukrainian authorities, while Moscow assured it had advanced to Avdiivka, in the east of the neighboring country.
“At 6:35 p.m [16:35 em Lisboa]”Another body was recovered from the rubble of the high school building by units of the State Emergency Service,” the institution announced via the social network Telegram.
“A total of three people were killed and two others were injured. There is another person under the rubble,” the same source added.
An hour earlier, Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko had announced the deaths of two employees of the educational institution.
According to the Interfax news agency, the attack on Nikopol partially destroyed the school and caused damage to 42 residential blocks, 18 agricultural buildings, a shop, power lines, a vehicle and several solar panels.
The Russian army, in turn, assured today that it has improved its positions thanks to its large-scale offensive around the city of Avdiivka, in eastern Ukraine, although Kiev’s forces claim to have repulsed the attack.
The offensive on this industrial city in the Donbas appears to be worrying Ukrainian authorities, who have been waging a slow counter-offensive for months.
Ukraine reported “massive attacks” by Russian soldiers on Tuesday, warning that they were trying to encircle Avdiivka, before saying later in the day that they had managed to “avoid the loss of positions”.
But Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a note on Telegram that its forces, supported mainly by artillery, “improved positions around the front line” near Avdiivka, without giving further details.
The head of the Russian occupation of the Donetsk region, Denis Pushilin, welcomed the progress and the “consolidation of new positions”.
Pushilin explained to Russian agency Ria Novosti that he observed “a tendency towards withdrawal” of Ukrainian troops around the city, although he acknowledged that it was too early to talk about a real withdrawal.
However, Ukrainian army spokesman Andrii Kovalev today reaffirmed that his soldiers had “repelled all enemy attacks” without giving up ground.
Also today in Avdiivka, an 85-year-old man died in a bomb attack that hit the courtyard of his home, while two other civilians were injured, the Ukrainian Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Donetsk revealed.
The city, whose center buildings have been destroyed in recent months, is located 13 kilometers from Donetsk, the capital of the Russian-controlled region of the same name.
Moscow annexed Donetsk on September 30 last year, along with Luhansk, also in the east, and Kherson and Zaporijia, in the south.
Russia had already annexed Crimea in 2014, when the separatist war in Donetsk and Lugansk began, with Russian support.
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared September 30 as Reunification Day to celebrate the annexations.
Kiev and most of the international community do not recognize Russian sovereignty in the five regions, which represent about 20% of Ukraine’s territory.
Ukraine is demanding withdrawal from Russia, including Crimea, and the restoration of internationally recognized borders in 1991, when the former Soviet republic gained independence.
Source: DN
