After more than 140 days of war, Vinnytsia is one of the new theaters of war in Ukraine. More than 700 km west of the Donbass, the missiles are raining down and the deaths to be deplored are increasing. On social networks, the Russians are accused of having bombed a maternity hospital and a medical center there, killing and injuring civilians. “There are many dead, including children and the sick,” said a user. Another is indignant: “The Russians are attacking the most vulnerable, defenseless. »
President Volodymyr Zelensky denounces “an open act of terrorism”: “Every day, Russia kills civilians, kills Ukrainian children, fires missiles at civilian targets where there is nothing military. »
For other Internet users, it was an officers’ house transformed into a temporary military accommodation center. “Russia only attacks fighters, do not believe Ukrainian propaganda,” says another. What about the bombed-out place in Vinnytsia? 20 minutes make the point.
FAKE OFF
The city of Vinnystia, yet far from the front, was indeed the target of fire this Thursday, July 14. As shown in the various videos shot on site, the impact caused a strong explosion and released heavy black smoke above the city. On ten floors, the windows of a large building were blown out by the blast.
According to the Ukrainian authorities, the toll is at least 23 dead, including three children, and more than a hundred wounded. The Ukrainian Air Force spokesman said that these missiles were fired from the Black Sea. Authorities said “three missiles” hit the parking lot and a commercial building in the center of town, housing offices and small businesses.
Thanks to the videos shot shortly after the events, it is possible to find the place in question, recognizable by the small plane, monument in honor of the air force, and by the large building whose windows have been blown out. This last one is actually a mall, including several banks. At the end of this square is also the Budynok Ofitseriv, a hall which notably hosts concerts, also called House of Officer’s, hence the accusation of the bombing of an officers’ house.
A nearby maternity ward
The Russian Ministry of Defense, quoted on Telegram by the editor-in-chief of the public media group Rossia Segodnya, Margarita Simonian, claimed to have targeted Vinnytsia “the House of Officers, where nationalists had been deployed”. But there is nothing to confirm this point for the moment. A US defense official said, on condition of anonymity: “I have no indication of the presence of a military target nearby. »
About the bombing of a medical center, the second maternity hospital in the city is indeed not far from the place of the bombardment. Only three minutes on foot, and less than 200 meters separate the building visible on the videos and the health establishment. It is impossible to say which building was precisely targeted by the bombing, but many were damaged, either by the explosion itself or by the fires that followed.
President Volodymyr Zelensky called again for the creation of a special court as well as new sanctions against Moscow, believing that it was “time for the democratic world to enshrine all this in appropriate legal instruments”. For his part, the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, said he was “appalled”, recalling that the organization condemned “any attack against civilians or civilian infrastructure”.