Deadly shelling in Pokrovsk as Russia inches closer
Published: 04:09 PM,Sep 15,2024 | EDITED : 08:09 PM,Sep 15,2024
A view shows a site of a Russian air strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine. — Reuters
KYIV: Russian shelling killed one person in the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk on Sunday, local authorities said, as Moscow's troops inched closer to the key logistics hub.
More than 20,000 people have fled the city since August, while Russian strikes over the past two weeks have cut off water and electricity to many of its remaining residents. 'Around 11:00 am, the enemy shelled the western part of the city... Unfortunately, one person died,' Pokrovsk's military administration said on Telegram.
Separately, a Russian air strike sparked a fire at a multi-storey residential building in the northeastern city of Kharkiv on Sunday, officials said. 'At the moment, there are almost 30 wounded, including children,' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram.
Russia has been advancing towards Pokrovsk for months, getting to within 10 kilometres of its eastern outskirts, according to the local administration. The city lies on the intersection of rail and road routes that supply Ukrainian troops and towns across the eastern frontline and has long been a target for Moscow's army. Russian strikes damaged two overpasses in the city earlier this week, including one that connected Pokrovsk to the neighbouring town of Myrnograd.
Meanwhile, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of 'bluster' on Sunday over his warning that letting Ukraine use long-range weapons to strike inside Russia would put Nato 'at war' with Moscow. Tensions between Russia and the West over the conflict reached dire levels this week as US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met at the White House to discuss whether to ease rules on Kyiv's use of western-supplied weaponry.
'I think that what Putin's doing is throwing dust up into the air,' Lammy said. 'There's a lot of bluster. That's his modus operandi. He threatens about tanks, he threatens about missiles, he threatens about nuclear weapons.'
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been asking for permission to use British Storm Shadow missiles and US-made ATACMS missiles to hit targets deeper inside Russia for months. Biden and Starmer delayed a decision on the move during their meeting on Friday. Lammy said that talks between Starmer, Biden and Zelensky over the use of the missiles would continue at the United Nations General Assembly gathering in New York later this month. — AFP
More than 20,000 people have fled the city since August, while Russian strikes over the past two weeks have cut off water and electricity to many of its remaining residents. 'Around 11:00 am, the enemy shelled the western part of the city... Unfortunately, one person died,' Pokrovsk's military administration said on Telegram.
Separately, a Russian air strike sparked a fire at a multi-storey residential building in the northeastern city of Kharkiv on Sunday, officials said. 'At the moment, there are almost 30 wounded, including children,' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram.
Russia has been advancing towards Pokrovsk for months, getting to within 10 kilometres of its eastern outskirts, according to the local administration. The city lies on the intersection of rail and road routes that supply Ukrainian troops and towns across the eastern frontline and has long been a target for Moscow's army. Russian strikes damaged two overpasses in the city earlier this week, including one that connected Pokrovsk to the neighbouring town of Myrnograd.
Meanwhile, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of 'bluster' on Sunday over his warning that letting Ukraine use long-range weapons to strike inside Russia would put Nato 'at war' with Moscow. Tensions between Russia and the West over the conflict reached dire levels this week as US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met at the White House to discuss whether to ease rules on Kyiv's use of western-supplied weaponry.
'I think that what Putin's doing is throwing dust up into the air,' Lammy said. 'There's a lot of bluster. That's his modus operandi. He threatens about tanks, he threatens about missiles, he threatens about nuclear weapons.'
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been asking for permission to use British Storm Shadow missiles and US-made ATACMS missiles to hit targets deeper inside Russia for months. Biden and Starmer delayed a decision on the move during their meeting on Friday. Lammy said that talks between Starmer, Biden and Zelensky over the use of the missiles would continue at the United Nations General Assembly gathering in New York later this month. — AFP