In apocalyptic images supplied by the Ukrainian defense ministry, a horrific barrage of Russian incendiary shells rained down on a Ukrainian town.
Ukraine asserts that Kremlin soldiers attacked the newly regained Donetsk settlement of Ozerne just days after it was retaken during Kyiv’s impressive counteroffensive.
Their footage depicts many shells pouring down on the village, striking buildings and burning the streets on fire.
In apocalyptic images supplied by Ukraine’s defense ministry, a horrific barrage of Russian incendiary rounds descended onto a Ukrainian community.
Yesterday, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) posted a video titled, “Russian 9M22S incendiary rounds falling on the recently freed Donetsk settlement of Ozerne.”
Ozerne is a settlement in Donetsk Oblast’s Bakhmut Raion in eastern Ukraine.
The 9M22S shell, which is often employed by vehicles such as the BM-21 “Grad” multiple launch rocket system, is intended for use against combustible targets and humans.
In the meantime, two eastern Ukrainian areas under Russian control have announced preparations to hold referendums on joining Russia later this week.
The decision, which further deepens Moscow’s standoff with the West, follows Russia’s military defeat in northeast Ukraine.
Kremlin forces targeted the freshly retaken Donetsk hamlet of Ozerne mere days after its liberation.
The 9M22S shell, typically employed by BM-21 ‘Grad’ multiple launch rocket systems, is intended for use against combustible and human targets.
A man walks through the ruins of a building in the city of Kadiivka that was devastated by recent shelling during the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The self-proclaimed, Russian-backed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) and the neighboring Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) announced that the scheduled referendums will be held between September 23 and September 27.
In a social media post addressed to Putin, DPR leader Denis Pushilin said, “I encourage you to consider the DPR joining Russia as soon as possible if the referendum results are favourable, which we have no doubts about.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Russian-installed officials in the southern Kherson area, where Moscow’s forces control almost 95% of the territory, also announced their intention to organize a vote.
It was anticipated that pro-Russian authorities in a portion of the Zaporizhia region of Ukraine would follow suit.
Ukraine and the United States have stated that such referendums would be illegal shams and that they, along with many other nations, would not recognize the results.
A photograph depicts destroyed homes and a crater in Siversk, Donetsk region.
The Central Military District of Russia launches a BM-27 Uragan multiple-launch rocket system against an unidentified area in the Donetsk region.
Ukrainian soldiers sit atop a military truck in the Russian-free city of Izium.
Before the announcements, Dmitry Medvedev, a former president and current vice-chairman of the Security Council, suggested that the outcome of such votes would be irreversible and give Moscow, which has the largest nuclear arsenal in the world, carte blanche to defend what it would regard as legally its own territory.
“Invasion of Russian land is a crime that justifies the employment of all self-defense forces,” Medvedev wrote in a Telegram message. This is why Kyiv and the West are so afraid of these referendums.
He emphasized that no future Russian leader would be able to constitutionally undo their results.
The head of Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, stated that his chamber would support the two regions joining Russia if they chose to do so.
Washington and the West have avoided supplying Ukraine with weapons that could be used to shell Russian territory, and Medvedev’s interpretation of what de facto annexation would legally entail from Moscow’s perspective appeared to be a future warning to the West.
They (the referendums) would drastically alter Russia’s development trajectory for decades. And not only of our nation Once the new regions were brought into Russia, he said, the geopolitical revolution of the world would be irreversible.
In Izium, a demolished apartment building caused by the bombardment of Russian troops is depicted.
Locals take firewood from a wrecked school where Russian military are stationed.
Given that Russian and Russian-backed forces hold only around 60 percent of the Donetsk region and Ukrainian forces are attempting to recover Luhansk, it is unclear how the referendums would be conducted.
Previously, pro-Russian leaders stated that the referendums could be held electronically.
Eight years have passed since Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine.
The referendums were announced after the Ukrainian government declared that its troops had recaptured the village of Bilohorivka in the Luhansk area and were poised to regain the entire province, which had been controlled by Russian forces up until this point.
Unverified social media footage shows Ukrainian forces in the settlement, located 9 kilometers west of Lysychansk, which surrendered to the Russians in July after weeks of combat.
“Every centimeter will be contested,” stated Luhansk governor Serhiy Gaidai on Telegram. The adversary is preparing its defense. Therefore, we shall not march in.’
Russia cited obtaining full control of Luhansk and the neighboring province of Donetsk as the major objective of its so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine, stating that Russian speakers were being persecuted and even shelled by Ukrainian government forces, a claim that Kyiv rejected.
In a quick counteroffensive last month, Ukrainian troops pushed into Luhansk after forcing Russian forces out of the northeastern Kharkiv area.
“The invaders are plainly in a panic,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a late Monday television speech, adding that he was now concentrating on “speed” in liberated territories.
The velocity at which our forces are moving. The rate of resuming regular life,’ stated Zelenski.
Additionally, the Ukrainian leader intimated that he will use a Wednesday video address to the United Nations General Assembly to urge countries to expedite weaponry and humanitarian deliveries.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the combat reports of either side.