Russian bombing of Ukrainian regions leaves 8 dead, and Zelensky denounces "missile terrorism"

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On Thursday, Russian forces targeted military and civilian facilities in several Ukrainian regions, including near the capital Kyiv, which resulted in at least eight deaths and thirty injuries, while President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned what he called "missile terrorism."

Ukraine is still waiting for the first ships carrying grains suspended due to the Russian invasion to be able to leave its coasts towards world markets, in implementation of the agreements signed on July 22 in Istanbul.

The three ports designated to allow these exports through the Black Sea resumed operations on Wednesday.

But the Europeans are still concerned after Russia has greatly reduced its gas supplies in recent weeks, especially through the "Nord Stream" line, whose work was limited Wednesday to twenty percent of its capacity.

"If Russia is going to cut off gas from us, it will not wait for autumn or winter to do it. It will not allow us to fill our tanks during the summer," EU Foreign Minister Josep Borrell said Thursday.

But he ruled out a "sudden" halt to these supplies.

He added that Moscow "will do this as soon as possible so that we no longer have reserves during the winter that would allow us to survive."

On Wednesday, Zelensky confirmed that his country is preparing to increase its electricity exports to the European Union to help it "withstand the pressures" of Moscow on the energy front.

The Russian bombing did not subside on Thursday in a large part of the Ukrainian territory.

In this context, at least five people were killed and 25 others, including 12 soldiers, were wounded in an attack on warehouses in Kropiventsky in the center of the country, said Andrei Raikovich, the governor of the Kirovograd region.

He explained that the strike damaged an An-26 civilian plane, training planes and nearby buildings.

And Krupivnitsky was previously targeted by Russian strikes, which left three dead, including a soldier, in addition to nine soldiers wounded.

The target was railway facilities and a military airport.

Also Thursday, at least one person was killed and two wounded in shelling in the neighboring Dnepropetrovsk region, according to its governor, Valentin Reznichenko.

In the Ukrainian-controlled section of the eastern Donetsk region, specifically in Toritsk, a man and a woman died Thursday when a multi-storey apartment building was hit, according to ambulance crews.

Kharkiv, the second largest Ukrainian city in the northeast, was hit by two S-300 missiles, which caused fires, according to its mayor, Igor Terekhovasin.

"The aggressors are trying to turn Kharkiv into a devastated city," the latter told AFP.

In Lyutyj, not far from Kyiv, early Thursday cruise missiles destroyed a building at a military base, while two other buildings were hit, the Ukrainian military said.

The same source added that six Kalibr missiles, one of which was shot down by the air defense, were launched from Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014.

Also, shelling by multiple rocket launchers from Belarus, an ally of Russia, caused "losses" among the Ukrainian military in the southern Chernigov region.

Also in the south, a school was destroyed and at least one person was injured by rockets, according to the governor of Mykolaiv.

Russian forces are still trying to advance near Seversk and Bakhmut in the Donbass industrial basin (east), as part of Moscow's efforts to tighten control over it.

Ukraine's military staff said the situation was "difficult, but under full control".

In the southern Kherson region, a few kilometers from the front where the Ukrainians launched a counterattack, three villages have been retaken from the Russians in the last two weeks.

A Ukrainian attack was recorded on Wednesday on the Antonovsky bridge overlooking the Dnieper River in the Kherson suburb, its use was partially disabled.

This region is vital for Ukrainian agriculture, in addition to being strategic because it is adjacent to Crimea.

"It's a turbulent morning," Zelensky said Thursday via Telegram. "We are again facing missile terrorism."

But he reiterated that Ukraine "will not surrender and will not acquiesce."

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