WESTERN PERSPECTIVE
Russian attack kills 17 in east Ukraine as Blinken visits Kyiv, officials say
At least 17 people were killed and 32 wounded in a Russian attack on a crowded market in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kostiantynivka on Wednesday as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said.
Footage circulated online by presidential officials showed people falling to the ground or running for cover after a huge explosion in front of them, seconds after some looked up to the sky when they heard what sounded like a missile approaching.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy condemned the attack, saying a market, shops and a pharmacy had been struck in the industrial city close to the battlefield.
"This Russian evil must be defeated as soon as possible," Zelenskiy said on the Telegram messaging app.
"When someone in the world still attempts to deal with anything Russian, it means turning a blind eye to this reality. The audacity of evil. The brazenness of wickedness. Utter inhumanity."
He later told a press conference in the capital Kyiv that he believed it had been a deliberate attack on "a peaceful city".
Reuters video footage after the attack showed shattered store fronts, gutted cars and a street littered with debris and twisted metal. Emergency services picked through the rubble.
"I only saw a flash and then shouted to my colleagues: 'Lie on the floor. All the customers lay down on the floor ... I heard things falling over, then everything was covered in smoke and fire started," said Diana Khodak, an employee of a pharmacy hit in the attack.
"One woman walked into the pharmacy on her own. Her arm and leg were bleeding, she had a big wound on her arm. Another woman was carried inside by soldiers. She had an open fracture and her bone was sticking out from her leg," Khodak said.
Kostiantynivka, which had a population of about 70,000 before Russia's invasion 18 months ago, is about 30 km (19 miles) from the devastated city of Bakhmut, where fighting has been heavy for months.
It is about 560 km from Kyiv, where Blinken met Zelenskiy and other Ukrainian leaders on a visit intended to show support for Ukraine against Russia's invasion.
Blinken said Ukraine had made important progress in its three-month-old counteroffensive against Russian forces and announced a new package of U.S. wartime assistance worth more than $1 billion.
Russia did not immediately comment on the attack, and has denied deliberately targeting civilians. The Kremlin had earlier on Wednesday said of Blinken's visit that Moscow believed Washington planned to continue funding Ukraine's military "to wage this war to the last Ukrainian".
SERIES OF ATTACKS
Wednesday's strike followed a series of Russian attacks on cities in eastern Ukraine in which civilian infrastructure has been hit, including a popular cafe, a hotel and shops.
It also followed air strikes hours earlier on Kyiv and the southern region of Odesa. No casualties were reported in the capital but officials said one person was killed in the Odesa region.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said the search and rescue operation in Kostiantynivka had been completed.
"As of 18:00 (1500 GMT) 17 people were killed and 32 were injured as a result of Russian shelling," he said.
Police said the market had been crowded when it was hit at around 2 p.m. (1100 GMT), and that nearly 30 shopping kiosks, an apartment block, a bank and cars were damaged.
A video released by police showed rescuers searching through the kiosks and, as bodies were taken out in black sacks, people shouting: "Who have you found?"
The video also showed the pharmacy, its floor covered in blood.
"At the moment of the strike civilians were here, they were buying medicines and this is what happened. People died here, the entire floor is covered in blood," a police spokeswoman is heard saying in the video.
RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE
Russia’s Aerospace Force hits Ukrainian saboteur training base — defense ministry
The Russian Aerospace Force has carried out a night-time strike with high accuracy weapons on a training base of Ukraine’s sabotage groups, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a daily bulletin of the special military operation.
"Last night, the Aerospace Force launched a group strike with long-range high accuracy weapons on a training base of Ukraine’s sabotage groups. The goal of the strike was achieved," it stressed.
Here are the details of this and other combat actions that happened over the past day, according to the bulletin.
Donetsk area
The Russian forces repulsed ten Ukrainian army attacks in the Donetsk area, eliminating roughly 285 enemy troops over the past day in the special military operation in Ukraine, the Defense Ministry reported.
"In the Donetsk direction, units of the Battlegroup South operating jointly with aircraft and artillery repulsed ten attacks by assault groups of the Ukrainian army’s 80th air assault, 110th mechanized and 59th motorized infantry brigades in areas near the settlements of Kleshcheyevka, Orekhovo-Vasilyevka, Khimik, Neveleskoye and Maryinka in the Donetsk People’s Republic [DPR]," the ministry said in a statement.
The enemy lost "as many as 285 Ukrainian personnel, a tank, two infantry fighting vehicles, five motor vehicles, a Gvozdika motorized artillery system, a Rapira gun and a UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] control post," the ministry specified.
South Donetsk area
The Russian armed forces have destroyed up to 180 Ukrainian servicemen, as well as five tanks in the South Donetsk area, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.
According to the ministry, the Battlegroup East has repelled an attack of the 38th Ukrainian mechanized brigade in Novodonetskoye of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).
"In addition, the Russian units hit the enemy manpower and equipment near the DPR’s Urozhaynoye and Novodonetskoye. The enemy lost: over 180 servicemen, five tanks, two armored fighting vehicles, two cars, a Polish-made Krab self-propelled artillery system, a Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system and a D-20 howitzer," the ministry added.
Zaporozhye area
The Russian forces operating in the Zaporozhye Region have repelled four Ukrainian attacks near Verbovoye and Rabotino, so there have been no changes in the tactical position of the Russian troops, the Defense Ministry told the media.
"In the Zaporozhye area, Russian troops, supported by aviation, artillery and heavy flamethrower systems, repelled four enemy attacks in the areas of Verbovoye and Rabotino in the Zaporozhye Region. There have been no changes in the tactical position of the Russian troops," the Defense Ministry said.
Up to 40 Ukrainian servicemen, one tank, two armored fighting vehicles, two pickup trucks, two US-made M777 artillery systems, three US-made M109 Paladin self-propelled howitzers, a British-made FH-70 gun, two Msta-B howitzers, two D-30 howitzers and two Gvozdika self-propelled artillery systems were destroyed in this area in one day.
Kupyansk area
The Russian Battlegroup West, involved in the special military operation, over the past 24 hours improved tactical positions in the area of Sverdlovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic, the Russian Defense Ministry told the media.
"In the Kupyansk area, units of the Battlegroup West with the support of aviation and artillery conducted active defense operations to improve the tactical situation in the area of Sverdlovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic," the Defense Ministry said.
Two counterattacks by assault groups of Ukraine’s 95th Airborne Assault Brigade were repulled near Sergeyevka in the LPR.
"During the past day the enemy lost up to 40 men, 2 vehicles, one self-propelled artillery piece M109 Paladin of US manufacture, as well as a D-30 howitzer," the Defense Ministry said.
Krasny Liman area
The Russian forces wiped out roughly 50 Ukrainian troops as they repelled two Ukrainian attacks in the Krasny Liman direction in the past day, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.
"In the Krasny Liman area, the Battlegroup Center, in cooperation with aviation and artillery, repelled two attacks by assault teams of Ukraine’s 12th Special Operations Brigade and 63rd Mechanized Brigade near the locality of Chervonaya Dibrova in the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) and Serebryanka forestry, eliminating roughly 50 Ukrainian soldiers with accurate fire," the ministry said in a report.
Kherson area
The Russian armed forces have eliminated up to 65 Ukrainian servicemen in the Kherson area, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.
"In the Kherson area, the Russian units destroyed up to 65 Ukrainian servicemen, two cars and a Msta-B howitzer," the statement said.
Russia’s tactical and army aviation as well as artillery and missile troops have delivered strikes on the Ukrainian army’s personnel and hardware in 103 districts over 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
"Tactical and army aviation, missile and artillery troops of Russia’s Armed Forces delivered strikes on the enemy manpower and military hardware in 103 districts," the statement said.
Russian air defense forces intercepted 12 rockets of the HIMARS and Uragan multiple launch rocket systems and shot down 17 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
"During the last 24-hour period, air defense capabilities intercepted 12 rockets of the HIMARS and Uragan multiple launch rocket systems," the statement said.
Additionally, radio-electronic warfare systems jammed and eliminated 17 Ukrainian drones near Makeyevka, Novonikolskoye, Melovatka in the Lugansk People’s Republic, Berestovoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Pshenichnoye, Semenovka in the Zaporozhye Region, Olshana in the Kharkov Region and Krynki in the Kherson Region.
In all, the Russian Armed Forces have destroyed 467 Ukrainian warplanes, 248 combat helicopters, 6,426 unmanned aerial vehicles, 435 surface-to-air missile systems, 11,696 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,148 multiple rocket launchers, 6,253 field artillery guns and mortars and 12,749 special military motor vehicles since the start of the special military operation in Ukraine.