Live: Dozens feared trapped after deadly Russian strike on Ukraine apartment building / Russia-Ukraine war update: what we know on day 138 of the invasion

Russia-Ukraine war update: what we know on day 138 of the invasion

 

At least 15 people dead after Russian missile attack on eastern Ukrainian town; residents in two southern regions urged to evacuate as Ukraine prepares to launch counteroffensive

 

Samantha Lock and Richard Luscombe

Mon 11 Jul 2022 01.44 BST

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/11/russia-ukraine-war-update-what-we-know-on-day-138-of-the-invasion

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• At least 15 people were killed and dozens injured after a Russian missile attack hit a five-storey apartment building in the town of Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine. Emergency crews worked to pull people trapped in the rubble. The strike destroyed three buildings in a residential quarter of town, inhabited mostly by people who work in nearby factories.
• Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, accused Moscow of purposely targeting civilians in the Chasiv Yar attack and promised “punishment is inevitable for every Russian murderer”.
• Ukraine has warned residents in southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhia to evacuate as it prepares to launch a counteroffensive to retake the area. The Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions were occupied by Russian troops in late February after they crossed the bridge from Russia-annexed Crimea. Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, said: “It’s clear there will be fighting, there will be artillery shelling ... and we therefore urge [people] to evacuate urgently.”
• Two civilians were killed and at least two others injured in Russian missile attacks on the town of Siversk, near Sievierodonetsk, officials said. The Donetsk governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said three people were hurt by shelling in Soledar and seven houses and other property burned down in Bakhmut, giving no details of any casualties. Ukraine officials warned last week the city in the Luhansk region was facing a “humanitarian disaster”.
• Russian forces have likely made some small territorial advances around Popasna, according to British intelligence. The Russian military continues to strike the Slovyansk area of the Donbas from around Izium to the north and near Lysychansk to the east, the UK’s Ministry of Defence said. The report added that the E40 – which links Donetsk and Kharkiv – is likely to be an important objective for Russian forces.
• Canada will return a repaired Russian turbine to Germany that it needs for the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, despite objections from Ukraine. Canada’s minister of natural resources, Jonathan Wilkinson, said the government was issuing a “time-limited and revocable permit” to exempt the return of turbines from its Russian sanctions, to support “Europe’s ability to access reliable and affordable energy as they continue to transition away from Russian oil and gas”. Ukraine responded saying it is “deeply disappointed” by the decision.
• The number of Ukrainian children enrolled in Poland’s schools is expected to double to at least 400,000 for the coming school year, the country’s education department has said. A report in European Pravda, an online media outlet published by Ukrainian journalists, quoted Przemysław Czarnek, Poland’s education minister, as saying those enrolled would take part in lessons both online from Ukraine and in-person.
• Germany has reportedly blocked €9bn of EU aid to Ukraine for more than a month. The Kyiv Independent, citing the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, said Germany’s finance minister, Christian Lindner, was against the planned aid because of concerns over European debt.
• The Russian Tennis Federation has claimed Elena Rybakina as “our product” on her run to the women’s title at Wimbledon. They praised her training program in the country after she became Wimbledon champion on Saturday while representing Kazakhstan.
• Russia has restricted access to the website of Germany’s Die Welt newspaper, Reuters reports. This came at the request of prosecutors, according to Roskomnadzor, Russia’s communications regulator. It was not immediately clear why prosecutors asked for the restriction.
• A Scottish council has announced plans to bring up to 200 empty homes back into use to house refugees fleeing Ukraine. North Lanarkshire Council said it would use £5m of Scottish government funding to reinstate the homes in high rise towers in Coatbridge and Wishaw “to a high standard”, according to a report from PA Media.