Moscow, Russia
Reuters
Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Wednesday that its forces had taken control of a district in the key Ukrainian town of Chasiv Yar, while Ukraine said the area was engulfed by intense fighting.
Chasiv Yar stands on high ground 20 kilometres to the west of Bakhmut, a town Russian forces seized a year ago. It had been levelled by months of fierce battles.
A view shows heavily damaged buildings, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in the frontline town of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk region, Ukraine, on 25th June, 2024. PICTURE: Oleg Petrasiuk/Press Service of the 24th King Danylo Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces/Handout via Reuters/File photo
Both sides see Chasiv Yar as a strategic site which Russia could use as a potential staging point to move westward through Donetsk region toward the cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
“Units of the South group of troops, as a result of dynamic actions, have taken full control of the “Novyi” district of the settlement of Chasiv Yar…and improved their positions in forward sectors,” the Russian Defence Ministry said.
The Novyi district lies to the west of Siverskyi Donets-Donbas canal which lies on the east side of the town.
On Wednesday, Ivan Petrechak, press officer for Ukraihe’s 24th brigade defending the town, told Suspilne public television the situation was “critically difficult”, with fighting around the canal.
“We see no letup in the amount of shelling. The enemy is using artillery, multiple rocket systems,” Petrechak said. “The situation remains tense. But the 24th brigade is holding its positions.”
Russian forces, he said, were sticking to known tactics – moving infantry into forested areas and then dispersing to attack Ukrainian positions in small groups. Advancing soldiers were covered by shelling and attack drones.”
The popular Ukrainian war blog DeepState reported earlier in the day that Russian forces had “completely erased” Novyi district. A Ukrainian military official said last week that Russian troops had been pushed out of an area by the canal.
Russian forces have been slowly pushing their way across parts of eastern Ukraine since the capture of the key city of Avdiivka in February.
Ukrainian forces are now receiving Western weaponry and ammunition after assistance from Washington was halted for months by disputes in the U.S. Congress.
The United States announced its latest $US2.3 billion military aid package for Ukraine this week, including artillery rounds, interceptor missiles and anti-tank weapons.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, writing on X, thanked the United States for the package on Wednesday and said it included funds to buy Patriot and NASAMS missile systems “which will strengthen our soldiers and boost our battlefield capacities”.
Police officers work at a site of a shopping mall damaged during Russian missile and drone strikes, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Dnipro, Ukraine on 3rd July, 2024. PICTURE: Reuters/Mykola Synelnykov
Meanwhile, a Russian missile and drone strike killed at least five people and wounded 53 in the south-eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Wednesday, and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged the West to supply more air defences and long-range weapons.
Footage filmed by a scared onlooker and published by Zelenskiy on his Telegram messaging app showed a large explosion in the sky followed by a fireball shooting off towards the ground.
“Inside, everything is damaged, outside everything is also damaged. I’ve got jitters on my body, my hands…it’s all very complicated and scary,” Olha, the manager of a cafe that was hit, told Reuters.
She said some of her staff had been wounded and were concussed.
Georgyi, an elderly man with a bandaged nose and bloodied face, told Reuters: “There was such a strong explosion that the wave hit me and I fell.”
At least four of the 53 wounded remained in severe condition, local authorities said.
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Russia denies targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure. Thousands of civilians have been killed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“This Russian terror can only be stopped by modern air defences and our long-ranged weapons,” Zelenskiy said. “The world can protect lives, and only the decisiveness of leaders is needed.”
Borys Filatov, the city’s mayor, announced a day of mourning for Thursday. He said on Telegram that the attack damaged kindergartens, schools and hospitals and caused fires across the city. Commercial buildings were also damaged, officials said.
“The morning has not been good for us. The enemy launched a combined attack on our city,” Serhiy Lysak, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, said.
At least 11 people had been taken to hospital and two were in grave condition, Lysak said.
He published pictures of emergency workers clearing shattered glass and extinguishing fires.
The Ukrainian Air Force said the Russian forces targeted the Dnipropetrovsk region with seven missiles and five Shahed drones. Air defences were able to shoot down five missiles and all the drones, it said.
Russia has intensified aerial attacks on Ukrainian cities in recent months as its forces have tried to advance. It has targeted power facilities in particular, causing widespread blackouts.
A police officer inspects the site where a residential building was heavily damaged by a Russian air strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on 3rd July, 2024. PICTURE: Reuters/Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy
The UN human rights office (OHCHR) said on Wednesday that Russia’s use of air-dropped bombs with a larger range is a major reason civilian casualties in Ukraine increased between March and May.
The munitions also caused widespread damage to civilian property and infrastructure, particularly near the frontline, OHCHR said in a report on the human rights situation in Ukraine.
“Increased use of powerful air-dropped bombs with a larger range by Russian armed forces was a significant reason for the rise in civilian casualties and massive destruction of civilian infrastructure in frontline communities,” according to the report, which covers the period between March and May.
OHCHR found that the Russian offensive in the Kharkiv region alone killed 78 civilians killed and wounded 305 others from May 10-31. Between March and May, at least 436 civilians were killed and 1,760 injured in Ukraine, according to OHCHR.
The actual figures are likely higher due to limited access to the frontline and territory occupied by Russia, as well as the pending corroboration of some civilian casualties.
“The vast majority of civilian casualties (96 per cent) were caused by the use of explosive weapons with wide area effects in populated areas, such as artillery shells and rockets, bombs, missiles, loitering munitions and other explosive munitions dropped by unmanned aerial vehicles,” said the report, which will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on 9th July.
Other casualties were attributed to mines and explosive remnants of war.
OHCHR said that Russia’s renewed attacks against Ukrainian energy infrastructure between March and May were the most extensive since the winter of 2022-2023, causing mass power outages that affected water supply and communications networks.
“The cumulative impact of these sustained attacks on energy infrastructure could potentially deprive the civilian population of services necessary for its survival, particularly when the winter season starts,” the report said.
– With MYKHAILO MOSKALENKO, YULIIA DYSA, OLENA HARMASH and GABRIELLE TÉTRAULT-FARBER
