Three people were killed and at least two wounded after Russian forces struck a residential neighborhood in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kostiantynivka, the regional governor said yesterday, as Ukrainian troops were locked in a “fierce” confrontation with Russian fighters for control of Vuhledar, southwest of Donetsk.
Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko wrote on the Telegram messaging app that four apartment buildings and a hotel had been damaged and that rescuers and police officials were at the site to “carefully document yet another crime by the Russian occupiers.”
Earlier yesterday, he said that four people had been killed and at least seven wounded from Russian strikes over the past 24 hours.
Photo: AFP
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday the situation at the front remained “extremely acute,” particularly in the eastern Donetsk region where Russia is stepping up an offensive amid its full-scale invasion, launched in February last year.
In Vuhledar, both sides claimed success in the small administrative center of apartment blocks surrounded by flat fields, a short distance from the strategic prize of the village of Pavlivka.
“The encirclement and subsequent liberation of this city solves many problems,” said Denis Pushilin, the Moscow-appointed leader of the Donetsk region.
“Soon, Vuhledar may become a new, very important success for us,” he was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.
Kyiv said the town, which had a pre-invasion population of about 15,000 people, remained contested.
Moscow’s push for Vuhledar is part of its effort to seize control of the entire Donetsk region, which it has already declared a part of Russia.
Ukraine said this week that Russian troops had stepped up their attacks in the east, particularly on Vuhledar and Bakhmut.
Russian President Vladimir Putin used International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Friday to lash out at Ukraine, calling those in the country “neo-Nazis” to justify the 11-month-old invasion.
“Forgetting the lessons of history leads to the repetition of terrible tragedies,” Putin said. “It is against that evil that our soldiers are bravely fighting.”
In Poland, where about 3 million Jews were slaughtered during World War II, officials pointed their fingers at Russia as perpetuating Nazi thinking.
“On the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi German death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, let us remember that to the east Putin is building new camps,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki wrote on Facebook.
“Solidarity and consistent support for Ukraine are effective ways to ensure that history does not come full circle,” he added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy marked Holocaust Remembrance Day by urging the world to unite against “indifference” and “hatred.”
“Today, as always, Ukraine honors the memory of millions of victims of the Holocaust. We know and remember that indifference kills along with hatred,” he said.
Meanwhile, Zelenskiy on Friday invited International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach to visit the frontline city of Bakhmut, where some of the heaviest fighting has taken place in recent months.
“I am inviting Mr Bach to Bakhmut so that he can see for himself that neutrality does not exist,” Zelenskiy said. “It is obvious that any neutral banner of Russian athletes is stained with blood.”
He made the invitation after the IOC said it was seeking a “pathway” for Russians to participate in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games despite the invasion of Ukraine.
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old