Ukraine: eleven dead in Russian attacks in the south and east

Russian strikes on a town in the Zaporizhia region and villages in the Donetsk region, in the south and east of Ukraine, left eleven people dead on Saturday, according to authorities. Ukrainians.

After these deadly strikes, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on his Western allies to “accelerate” their arms deliveries.

“The Russians attacked the city of Vilnіansk”, in the Zaporizhzhia region, and “the enemy killed seven people. Two of the dead are children”, declared Ivan Fedorov, the regional governor on a social network.

Ten people were injured and several buildings, including residential ones, were damaged, he added.

Vilniansk is 29 kilometers northeast of Zaporizhia, the main regional city, under Ukrainian control. Russia claims to have annexed the Zaporizhia region but, although it occupies large parts of it, it does not completely control it.

Undated photo published on the official Telegram channel of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry on June 29, 2024, showing the site of a Russian strike in Vilniansk, Zaporizhia region © Press Service of the Ministry of Interior of Ukraine – Handout

Russia has already attacked Zaporizhia and neighboring towns several times since its offensive in Ukraine began in 2022, but in recent weeks it has focused its efforts mainly in the east of the country rather than the south .

Ukrainian officials also announced that Russian attacks on frontline villages in the Donetsk region (east) had left four people dead.

“In ( the village of) Zarichne, the Russians killed three people,” Vadym Filashkin, Ukrainian governor of the Donetsk region, said on social media.

The Prosecutor General of Ukraine later announced that another person, a resident of the border village of New York, “had also been mortally wounded.”

New York is intensely attacked since mid-June as Russian forces advance towards the town of Toretsk.

Undated photo published on the official Telegram channel of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry on June 29, 2024, showing a house destroyed by a Russian strike in Vilniansk, Zaporizhia region © Press Service of the Ministry of Interior of Ukraine – Handout

After these new strikes from Moscow, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday called on his Western allies to “accelerate” their arms deliveries to kyiv's forces.

“The decisions we need must be accelerated. Any delay in decisions in this war means the loss of human lives”, pleaded Mr. Zelensky, calling for delivery of weapons to “destroy Russian missile launchers”.

The attacks came the day after another against the town of Dnipro, north of Zaporizhia. One person was killed and 13 others injured, Ukrainian police announced on Saturday.

“Police have identified a woman killed in a missile attack on the town of Dnipro. She is a 76-year-old resident of a destroyed building,” according to a press release. There are also 13 injured “including an infant and a pregnant woman”.

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