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Employees of the Russian Emergencies Ministry rescue the victims after the shelling in Lysychansk, Ukraine

Photo: Uncredited / dpa

At least 28 people are said to have been killed in the shelling of the Russian-occupied eastern Ukrainian city of Lysychansk. Russian authorities announced this on Sunday. A child was among the dead in Lysychansk, the Russian Emergencies Ministry said on the Telegram online service. Search efforts continued on the site of a bakery that was destroyed in the shelling. So far, rescue workers have rescued ten people from the rubble. This information cannot be independently verified.

The Russian state news agency Tass, citing local health authorities, reported that the dead included 18 men, nine women and one child. Four injured people are also in “very serious condition”.

Moscow blamed Kiev for the shelling. The Russian Foreign Ministry said Western weapons were used in Saturday's bombing. One expects a “quick and unconditional condemnation” of the attack by international organizations. Ukrainian authorities initially did not comment on the allegations. The Ukrainian General Staff said on Sunday only that the Ukrainian Air Force had hit "twelve areas with enemy personnel" the day before. Ukrainian rockets also targeted “an artillery piece” and another “area of ​​enemy concentration.”

The front line in eastern Ukraine has been almost unchanged for months

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Russian-occupied Lysychansk, which is only about ten kilometers from the front line, had a population of around 111,000 before the start of the Russian offensive. The city in the Luhansk region came under the control of Russian armed forces after fierce fighting in the summer of 2022.

On Sunday, the Ukrainian army also announced that its forces had repelled 27 Russian attacks near the front-line town of Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine, which has been bitterly fought over for months, and another town. On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he would take positions on the outskirts of Avdiivka. Since October, Moscow has been trying to encircle the city in the Donetsk region, one of four regions that the Kremlin declared annexed in 2022.

The front line in eastern Ukraine has remained almost unchanged for months, but fierce fighting continues. Attacks on both sides have increased this winter. On Saturday, the Ukrainian Air Force reported shooting down nine of 14 drones fired by Russia. Most of the Iranian-made drones targeted “energy infrastructure facilities” in the Dniepropetrovsk region. In addition, targets in the south of Ukraine were attacked.

After drone attacks: 15,000 people without electricity

Regional Governor Serhiy Lysak said 15,000 people were without power as a result of the drone strikes. Heating systems in the city were affected by fires, leaving “some families without a water supply.” But there were “no deaths or injuries.”

Meanwhile, a key oil facility in the western Russian region of Volgograd caught fire after a drone attack attributed to Ukraine. According to local governor Andrei Bocharov, a fire broke out on Saturday after a downed drone crashed at the refinery of the Russian oil company Lukoil. There were no injuries.

The Russian armed forces said on Saturday that air defenses shot down or intercepted four drones in the Belgorod region, two more in the Volgograd region and another in the Rostov-on-Don region. Kiev has increasingly attacked Russia with drones in recent months. Recently there have been increased attacks on Russian oil and gas facilities.

faq/AFP/dpa