- Russian
airstrikes on a residential block in Ukraine killed at least seven people and
wounded 81, including two children. - The attack
damaged buildings, including a popular pizzeria and a hotel, in the city of
Pokrovsk, which is 40 kilometres from the frontline. - Russia says
it has gained ground and repelled Ukrainian attacks, and has advanced towards
Kupiansk in northeastern Ukraine.
Rescue
workers combed through the rubble of damaged apartments in the city of Pokrovsk
in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday, a day after Russian strikes killed at least
seven people.
Pokrovsk
sits just 40 kilometres from the eastern frontline, where Moscow says it is
gaining ground and repelling Ukrainian attacks.
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Two
missiles – launched 40 minutes apart – damaged residential buildings, a hotel,
cafes, shops, and administrative buildings on Monday, Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of
the Donetsk region’s military administration said.
AFP
correspondents on the ground saw rescuers evacuating survivors from the rubble
of a five-storey building, and carrying the wounded into ambulances.
Seven
people were killed in the strike on Monday evening and 81 were wounded, including
two children, Kyrylenko said.
Those
killed included a high-ranking emergency official of Donetsk region, said Igor
Klymenko, Ukraine’s minister of internal affairs.
“We
are resuming the demolition of rubble,” Klymenko said early Tuesday after
the rescuers “were forced to suspend work for the night due to the high
threat of repeated shelling.”
The attack
struck a building with a pizzeria on the ground floor that is a popular dining
spot for volunteers, military and journalists, an AFP photographer confirmed.
The
building’s upper floors were damaged.
In late
June, Russia struck the Ria Pizza restaurant in Kramatorsk, killing 13 and
wounding dozens more.
President
Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that Moscow had struck a residential
building, and shared a video on social media of civilians helping wounded
people and rescuers clearing rubble from a building that had lost its top
floor.
The footage
also showed a second building that appeared heavily damaged.
Pokrovsk
had a pre-war population of around 60,000 people.
Russia advances
Also on
Monday, Russia said it had recently advanced three kilometres towards Kupiansk
in northeastern Ukraine around 150 kilometres north of Pokrovsk and a few dozen
kilometres from the Russian border.
Kupiansk
and its surroundings in the Kharkiv region were retaken by Ukrainian forces in
September, but Moscow has renewed its assault on the area.
“Over
the past three days, the advance of Russian troops… amounted to 11 kilometres
along the front and more than three kilometres deep into the enemy’s
defence,” Moscow’s defence ministry said.
This handout photograph taken and released by Ukrainian Emergency Service on August 7, 2023 shows a rescuer evacuating inhabitants from a damaged residential building following Russian missiles strikes in Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, amid Russian invasion of Ukraine.
It said
that it had “improved” its standing along the front line and
continued to repel Ukrainian counterattacks.
On
Saturday, Russia struck a blood transfusion centre in Kruglyakivka – near
Kupiansk – with a “guided air bomb”, killing at least two people and
wounding four, Kyiv said.
Two more
people in Kruglyakivka died Monday when Russia attacked with “four guided
aerial bombs”, according to Oleg Synegubov, governor of the Kharkiv
region.
In
mid-July, Ukraine said that it was in a “defensive position” in the
Kupiansk area as the Russian army launched an offensive there.
Ukraine
began its long-awaited counteroffensive in June, but has made modest advances
in the face of stiff resistance from Russian forces.
Saudi talks
On the
diplomatic front, Ukraine said Monday it was “satisfied” after a
peace summit held in Saudi Arabia, to which Moscow was not invited.
Representatives
from around 40 countries including China, India, the United States and Ukraine
took part in the weekend summit in Jeddah.
But the
initiative was greeted with scorn by Moscow on Tuesday.
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“We
have become eyewitnesses of yet another unsuccessful attempt by the US
administration to pass off their wishes for reality. There was no diplomatic
success in Jeddah,” said Russian ambassador to Washington, Anatoly
Antonov, as quoted by state news agency RIA Novosti.
The
diplomat said it was pointless to discuss the crisis in Ukraine without
Russia’s participation.
“Does
anyone still not understand that in such a situation it is impossible to
achieve a concrete result?” he said.
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