2024-01-21 16:27:08
At least 25 killed in a Ukrainian strike on the Eastern Front
At least 25 people were killed on Sunday in a Ukrainian strike on a market in Donetsk, the largest city in the east of the country under Moscow’s control, while a fire broke out at night, the causes of which are still unknown, at a gas station in Russia. On Sunday, the Russian army announced its control of a small town in the Kharkiv region in eastern Ukraine, while the Ukrainian forces, for their part, confirmed that this progress “does not have any importance” at the strategic level.
Pro-Russian separatists took control of Donetsk, one of the most important cities on the Eastern Front, in 2014, and since then it has been under regular bombardment by Ukrainian forces. On Sunday, a Ukrainian strike on a market in the Tekstilshchik neighborhood of Donetsk caused the largest number of casualties in a strike in this city in several months. Tatiana, who lives in the neighborhood, told a Russian media outlet, “There were people screaming and a woman crying.” “I saw smoke rising and the windows of the store were shattered.” Another woman with the same name says: “Where are the military targets here? It’s just a normal market. It has been a long time since something like this happened here,” according to what Agence France-Presse reported.
Pictures spread on social media showed many blood-stained bodies lying on the ground and scattered glass fragments. The Moscow-appointed governor of the Donetsk region, Denis Pushilin, said on the Telegram application: “At the present time, information about 25 dead has been confirmed. More than 20 others were injured, including two children in moderate condition.” He added, “The market was targeted on Sunday, at a time when it is most crowded.” On Sunday, the Russian Foreign Ministry condemned the attack, saying in a statement: “The neo-Nazi regime in Kiev, supported by the United States and its followers, once again carried out a barbaric terrorist act against the civilian population in Russia.”
Slight Russian advance
In Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine, the Russian army announced its control over “the village of Krakhmalnoye, thanks to the active operations successfully carried out by units of the West Group in the Kubyansk region.” This town, in which about 45 people lived before the Russian invasion began on February 24, 2022, is located 30 kilometers southeast of Kubyansk, which has been under attacks by Russian forces for months.
This announcement reflects the increasing pressure exerted by Moscow forces on the front in recent weeks. On Thursday, the Russian army announced control of another small town, the town of Veseloy in the Donetsk region (east).
For its part, Kiev sought to downplay Russian progress. Ukrainian Ground Forces spokesman, Volodymyr Vityu, confirmed to a Ukrainian television channel on Sunday that this seizure “does not bear any strategic importance” on the front. He said that this village: “consists of five houses, which were destroyed by the Russians,” stressing that the Ukrainian forces “were transferred to pre-prepared reserve positions,” where they are currently working to continue “defense and prevent the enemy from continuing to advance.”
In the face of repeated attacks, the Ukrainian authorities over the weekend ordered the evacuation of 26 towns in the Kharkiv region, which includes Kobyansk, a decision that affected approximately three thousand people, including 279 children.
Russian forces controlled all of that region at the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine before Ukrainian forces liberated it in a lightning attack in September 2022 that forced Moscow forces to withdraw. Russia launched a new attack on this region during the summer of 2023 at a time when Ukraine was trying to launch a major counterattack in Donbass in the east and in the south, but it failed.
Since the fall, Russian forces have been advancing towards the northeast, that is, in the Kubyansk region, and towards the east, especially around the city of Avdiivka.
Firefighters work at the site of a large fire that broke out at a gas station in the Russian Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga on Sunday (AFP)
Fire at a gas station
In an attempt to deter the Russian war machine and in response to the strikes on its territory, the Ukrainian army increased its attacks with drones and missiles on enemy territory. On the night of Saturday-Sunday, a major fire broke out at a gas station in the port of Ust-Luga on the Russian Baltic Sea, caused by an “external factor,” according to what Novatek, one of the largest liquefied natural gas producers in Russia, reported.
The company said on Sunday that the fire was caused by an “external factor,” according to preliminary information, adding, “There are no victims and there is no threat to the lives and health of employees.” She confirmed that “the fire is limited in scope” so far, without providing further details about the cause of the fire.
Video clips spread on social media showed flames and rising smoke as a tank with a capacity of “one hundred cubic metres” caught fire, according to RIA Novosti. Many firefighters were struggling to extinguish the fire in light of the extreme cold and the temperature reaching ten degrees Celsius below zero.
This week, Ukrainian forces claimed responsibility for two attacks on oil depots on Russian territory, one in the Leningrad region – where Ust-Luga is located – and the other in the Bryansk region, which is close to Ukrainian territory. The Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed on Sunday that it had “thwarted” several drone and missile attacks in recent hours, without mentioning the fire in Ust-Luga.
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