Near Lviv in western Ukraine: Many dead after attack on military base

According to Ukraine, Russia has fired numerous rockets at a military training ground near Lviv, not far from the Polish border. 35 people are said to have been killed and many more injured.

According to official figures, at least 35 people were killed in a Russian attack on a military training ground around 15 kilometers from the Polish border. 134 others were injured and are being treated in clinics, said the governor of the western Ukrainian region of Lviv, Maxym Kosytskyi.

Kosytskyi said more than 30 rockets were fired at the Yavoriv base. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said the attack was aimed at a training center near the Polish border, which also trains blue helmets for peacekeeping missions and where NATO trainers worked until shortly before the war.

It is not yet known whether foreigners are among the victims. “This is a new terrorist attack on peace and security near the EU-NATO border,” Reznikov tweeted.

Fighting in other parts of the country too

Ukraine also fears further attacks from Russia in other parts of the country. A Russian offensive is imminent in the city of Sievjerodonetsk with 100,000 inhabitants in the Luhansk region. According to information from Moscow, fighters for the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine have already taken parts of the city. “Units of the Luhansk People’s Republic blocked the eastern and southern parts of the city,” said Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, according to the Interfax news agency.

According to Russian information, the offensive was also continued near the town of Popasna near Luhansk. There the separatists would have occupied the northern parts of the city. At the beginning of the week it was said that Ukrainian forces had been surrounded near the city.

Kyiv still under fire

According to the Ukrainian army, the fighting around the Ukrainian capital Kyiv is also continuing. The military said there was heavy fighting in Irpin and Makariv in the Kyiv region. The situation is similar in other villages, the humanitarian situation is getting worse and worse.

Yesterday alone around 20,000 people were evacuated from Bucha, Irpin, Hostomel and Worsel northwest of Kyiv. The rescue of civilians should continue.

According to the city administration of Kyiv, they have stocks of food for two weeks in reserve in case of a blockade by Russian troops. Those two million residents of Kyiv who have not yet left the city “will not be left without support if the situation worsens,” a statement said.

Several explosions in Ivano-Frankivsk

According to the Ukrainian army’s military report, several explosions were heard during the night in the Ivano-Frankivsk region in south-western Ukraine. The mayor wrote on Facebook about attacks on an air force base. The airport had been the destination for the third time. “I beg you, be as careful as possible and take care of yourselves,” Ruslan Martsinkiv appealed to the residents of his city. He had previously urged residents near the airport to leave the area if possible.

According to the Ukrainian army, there were also attacks in the north-east in the area around the city of Sumy. “Peaceful villages” have been shot at several times. In southern Ukraine, the Russian military is raising troops around the industrial city of Kryvyi Rih, which has a population of more than 600,000. None of the information has been independently verified.

Separatists are advancing on the outskirts of Mariupol

Heavy fighting also continues in Mariupol. With the support of the Russian military, pro-Russian separatists have now managed to advance to the eastern outskirts of the port city.

The fighting has already wreaked havoc in Mariupol, according to footage released by US satellite manufacturer Maxar Technologies. The images showed serious damage to civilian infrastructure and residential buildings.

Another mayor abducted

According to the authorities, another mayor was abducted by Russian troops in southern Ukraine. “War crimes are becoming more and more systematic,” wrote the head of the Zaporizhia Oblast military administration, Olexander Starukh, on Facebook. “The mayor of Dniprorudne, Yevheniy Matvyeev, was kidnapped.”

Dniprorudne is a small town with almost 20,000 inhabitants on the river Dnipro, which is dammed at this point to form the Kakhovka reservoir. Kyiv had previously announced that the mayor of the city of Melitopol had been kidnapped. In his place, the Russian troops appointed a Moscow-born politician as governor. Observers do not rule out that Russia will also change administrations in other conquered areas.

14 escape corridors planned

According to information from Kyiv, another 14 escape corridors were planned to rescue civilians from embattled Ukrainian cities. A convoy with several tons of aid supplies will again try to reach the besieged port city of Mariupol, said Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Wereshchuk. This also included empty buses that were supposed to transport residents from the badly damaged city to Zaporizhia on the way back. The convoy was to be accompanied by clerics.

So far, all attempts to set up an escape corridor for Mariupol have failed. Both sides blame each other.