There are fears that about 60 people have been killed in the Russian bombing of a rural school in eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk region, the regional governor said on Sunday.
Governor Sergei Gaidai said Russian forces dropped a bomb on Saturday afternoon at a school where about 90 people had taken refuge in the basement, which caused a fire that engulfed the building.
“The fire was extinguished after nearly four hours, then the ruins were cleared and the bodies of two people were unfortunately found,” Gaidai wrote in the Telegram news app.
“Thirty people were evacuated from the rubble, seven of whom were injured. Probably 60 people died under the rubble of buildings.”
Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
Ukraine and the West have accused Russian forces of targeting civilians in the war, which Moscow denies.
More civilians were evacuated from the steel plant
In the devastated southeastern port city of Mariupol, dozens of civilians were rescued from a sprawling steel plant in a week-long operation mediated by the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
Smoke rises from the Azovstal steel plant during a shelling in Mariupol, a territory under the government of the Donetsk People’s Republic, in eastern Ukraine on Saturday. (Alexei Alexandrov / Associated Press)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a statement late Saturday that more than 300 civilians had been rescued from Azovstal’s steel plant and authorities would now focus on trying to evacuate the wounded and medics. Other Ukrainian sources cite various figures.
Russian-backed separatists announced a total of 176 civilians evacuated from the plant on Saturday.
WATCH Civilians evacuated from the Mariupol Steel Factory:
Civilians evacuated from Mariupol Steel Factory as Russian forces continue attack
The Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine said that all women, children and the elderly had been evacuated from the besieged steel plant in Mariupol. It is not clear where all evacuees are headed. 5:09
The Azovstal plant is the last stronghold for Ukrainian forces in the city, which is now largely controlled by Russia, and many civilians have taken refuge in its underground shelters. It has become a symbol of resistance to Russian efforts to seize parts of eastern and southern Ukraine.
“We will continue to fight”
Ukrainian fighters at the steel plant pledged to continue their position on Sunday.
“We will continue to fight while we are alive to repel the Russian occupiers,” Captain Svyatoslav Palamar, deputy commander of the Azov Ukrainian Regiment, told an online conference. The regiment is a far-right armed group that was included in the National Guard of Ukraine after Russia’s first invasion in 2014.
“We do not have much time; we are under intense fire, “he said, begging the international community to help evacuate wounded soldiers from the plant.
Russian President Vladimir Putin called the invasion, which began on February 24, a “special military operation” to disarm Ukraine and free it from anti-Russian nationalism fueled by the West. Ukraine and its allies say Russia has started an unprovoked war.
Zelenski will hold a video interview with G7 leaders
Mariupol is key to blocking Ukrainian exports and connecting the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula in 2014 and parts of the eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions controlled by Russian-backed separatists that year.
In an emotional address on Sunday, Victory Day, as Europe marks Germany’s official surrender of World War II allies, Zelensky said “evil has returned” to Ukraine with the Russian invasion, but his country will prevail.
US President Joe Biden and other G7 leaders were scheduled to hold a video interview with Zelensky on Sunday in a demonstration of unity ahead of Monday’s Victory Day celebrations in Russia.
Stressing Western support for Ukraine, Britain has pledged another 1.3 billion pounds ($ 2.1 billion Cdn) in military support and assistance, doubling its previous spending commitments.
Putin’s speech must be closely monitored
Victory Day is a major event in Russia, and Putin will chair a parade in Moscow’s Red Square on Monday of troops, tanks, missiles and intercontinental ballistic missiles, showing military might even as his forces fight in Ukraine.
His speech may offer clues to the future of the war. Russia’s efforts have been hampered by logistics and equipment problems and heavy casualties in fierce resistance.
Aerial view shows a new road to the ruined bridge over the Irpin River in Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Saturday. (Alexei Furman / Getty Images)
The director of the US Central Intelligence Agency, William Burns, said on Saturday that Putin was convinced that “doubling” the conflict would improve the outcome for Russia.
“He’s in a mood he doesn’t believe he can afford to lose,” Burns told the Financial Times in Washington on Saturday.
The attacks were repulsed in eastern Ukraine, the military said
Mariupol, located between the Crimean peninsula occupied by Moscow in 2014 and parts of eastern Ukraine captured by Russian-backed separatists in the same year, is key to connecting the two Russian-held territories.
The General Staff of Ukraine said on Sunday that Ukrainian units near the Azovstal plant continue to be blocked and Russia continues its attack with artillery and tanks in Mariupol.
Russia’s offensive in eastern Ukraine aims to establish full control of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions – where pro-Russian separatists have declared breakaway republics – and to maintain a land corridor between those territories and Crimea.
Ukrainian forces in both regions repulsed nine enemy attacks, destroying 19 tanks, 20 war machines and one unit of enemy special engineering equipment, the General Staff said on Sunday. Reuters could not immediately verify the reports.
Add Comment