At least seven people were killed Thursday in an attack on a village in the Zaporizhia region of southern Ukraine, prompting Ukrainian and Russian authorities to exchange new accusations over responsibility for the missile launches.
According to reports, Russian troops fired at least three missiles into the city of Vilniansk at around 5:00 am (local time), with one of the shells hitting a residential building that is home to three families.
After rescuers, public service workers and volunteers removed the rubble, Kirilo Timoshenko, the “number two” in the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, confirmed on his page on the Telegram social network at least seven dead.
“Regarding the aftermath of a Russian night missile that hit a four-apartment residential building in Vilnyansk, Zaporizhia region, the bodies of seven dead people were recovered from the rubble,” it said.
Shortly after, the Russian authorities installed in the region accused the Ukrainian armed forces of being behind the attack.
The spokesman for the main council of the Russian-installed civil-military administration, Vladimir Rogov, said the attack was carried out against the village of Mikhailovka.
Russia annexed the region, along with Kherson, Donetsk and Lugansk, in September, following an invasion launched on February 24 on the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Ukrainian forces have advanced in recent weeks into some of these regions, partially occupied by Russian troops.
The military offensive launched on February 24 by Russia in Ukraine has already caused the flight of more than 13 million people -more than six million internally displaced persons and more than 7.8 million to European countries-, according to the most recent data. from the ONU. , which catalogs this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since the Second World War (1939-1945).
The Russian invasion — justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin as the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security — was condemned by the broader international community, which has responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and imposing on Russia from political and economic sanctions.
The UN presented as confirmed since the beginning of the war 6,557 dead civilians and 10,074 wounded, stressing that these figures are far below the real ones.
Source: TSF
