Saturday, Ukrainian officials reported that Russian forces intensified their efforts to capture one of the few remaining cities in eastern Ukraine not already under their control, while continuing to fire on towns and villages in the country’s north and south. At least nine civilians were injured by Russian shelling in the southern district of Mykolayiv, according to local authorities.
A five-story apartment complex and individual dwellings in the town of Voznesensk were severely damaged, according to the governor of the Black Sea region.
“As of 13:30 local time, there are nine injured, including four youngsters. All children are in critical condition. Ages range between 3 and 17 years “The governor stated in a Telegram message. A young child lost an eye as a result of the attack on Saturday, he added.
Meanwhile, there remained hope for a diplomatic breakthrough at the troubled Zaporizhia nuclear power facility, according to Charlie D’Agata, senior foreign correspondent for CBS News. Russia and Ukraine have agreed to allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors access to the nuclear site.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed gratitude but caution.
In Voznesensk, Ukraine, on August 20, 2022, a rescuer assists a woman in being evacuated from a residential building damaged by a missile strike during Russia’s invasion on Ukraine.
Press Service of Ukraine’s State Emergency Service/Handout via Reuter
According to Ukrainian and Kremlin-backed local officials, a Ukrainian airstrike targeted targets in the main Russian-occupied city in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, expanding the front lines of the nearly six-month war in Ukraine.
The mayor of Melitopol, Ukraine, stated that preliminary assessments indicate a “precise hit” on a Russian military base. The leader of the government supported by the Kremlin stated that the attack harmed residential areas and mildly hurt one citizen.
In its daily update, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported that fighting intensified around Bakhmut, a tiny city whose seizure would allow Russia to threaten the two largest remaining Ukrainian-held metropolitan areas in the eastern Donbas region.
Bakhmut has been a primary target of Moscow’s eastern offensive for weeks as the Russian military attempts to conclude a months-long campaign to take all of the Donbas, a bordering industrial region where pro-Moscow separatists have declared two independent republics.
2022-08-20: Cars in the vicinity of Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine, are ablaze as Russia’s assault on the country continues.
2022-08-20: Cars in the vicinity of Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine, are ablaze as Russia’s assault on the country continues.
REUTERS/AMMAR AWAD
A local Ukrainian official reported Saturday morning violence near four communities on the border between the provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk, which together comprise the contested territory.
The governor of Luhansk, Serhii Haidai, did not name the settlements or mention Bakhmut, which is around 26 kilometers from the provincial boundary. Last month, Russian soldiers overran nearly all of Luhansk and have since focused on taking Ukrainian-held territory in Donetsk.
On Friday, seven civilians were murdered by Russian shelling in Donetsk province, including four in Bakhmut, Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko stated on Telegram. Taking Bakhmut would allow the Russians to push on Kramatorsk and Slovyansk, the principal Ukrainian-held cities in the area.
Sloviansk and Kramatorsk were also attacked on Friday, along with the Kharkiv area in the north, which is home to Ukraine’s second-largest city.
Neither Moscow nor Kiev reacted on the bombing against the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Melitopol. Igor Konashenkov, a spokesperson for the Russian Defense Ministry, said earlier Saturday morning that pro-Russia forces had fired down Ukrainian shells near the city as well as near a critical power facility in the Kherson region, which the Russians took early in the conflict.
Saturday, the head of the Kremlin-installed administration in Melitopol admitted that Ukrainian fire had been directed against the city.
“During the night, the Kiev regime launched two strikes on residential areas of our wonderful city of Melitopol. Russian air defense systems intercepted incoming missiles, but shelling resulted in the partial destruction and damage of homes on two streets “Galina Danilchenko reported on Telegram.
Ivan Ferodov, the Ukrainian mayor of Melitopol, stated that local Ukrainian authorities were collecting information on the strike.
“There were massive explosions in Melitopol tonight, which the entire city heard,” Fereodov stated. “According to preliminary information, (it was) a pinpoint strike on one of the Russian military outposts, which the Russian fascists are attempting to restore for the umpteenth time in the airfield region,”
Shortly after Dalnichenko’s post, Ferodov reported that residential areas in the city had been struck, although he attributed the about 10 demolished homes on the Melitopol-based forces backed by Moscow. In addition, he reaffirmed his prior assertion that a Ukrainian airstrike had damaged a Russian military base.
The Ukrainian governor of the partially Russian-controlled southern Zaporizhzhia region, where Melitopol is located, reported late Friday evening that a kid was severely hurt by Russian shelling on the outskirts of the regional capital that day.
The governor, Oleksandr Starukh, reported via Telegram that the 8-year-old girl remained on a ventilator following surgery, but her condition was “stable.” Starch added that two adult citizens in the city of Zaporizhzhya sustained “moderate injuries” in the same strike.
While Russia was primarily focused on the east, Ukrainian officials have signaled intentions for a counteroffensive to retake captured territory in the country’s southern region.
Local authorities stated that Russian bombardment had resumed overnight along a broad front, encompassing the border districts of northern Kharkiv and Sumy, eastern Dnipropetrovsk, and Mykolaiv.