Russian forces bombed more than 40 cities in the Donbas district in eastern Ukraine, forcing Ukrainians to bury the dead civilians in mass graveswhile the TASS news agency reported that in the provinces of Lugansk and Donetsk about 8,000 Ukrainian prisoners of war have been arrested.
After failing to occupy the capital Kyiv or the second largest Ukrainian city, Kharkov, during the three-month-long war, Russia is trying to take full control of Donbass, which is made up of two eastern provinces claimed by Russia. on behalf of Russian-speaking separatists.
Russia has sent thousands of troops in the area and is attacking from three sides in an attempt to encircle the Ukrainian forces holding the city Severodonetsk and the Lisichansk twin. The fall of these cities would mean that the entire province of Lugansk is under Russian control.which is a major goal of the Kremlin in its war.
«The invaders shelled more than 40 cities in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, destroying or damaging 47 civilian sites, including 38 homes and a school. As a result of this bombing, five civilians were killed and 12 were injured“, Announced through Facebook the Joint Strike Force of the Ukrainian armed forces.
According to the same source, 10 Russian attacks were repulsed while four tanks and four unmanned aircraft were destroyedwhile 2 “enemy soldiers” were killed.
From the office of the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky it was announced today that 11 high-rise buildings were destroyed in Severodonetsk and 8 in Lysitshansk.
Zelensky has stated that Russian troops are outnumbered by Ukrainian forces in some parts of eastern Ukraine, and that Kyiv is trying unsuccessfully to organize an exchange of prisoners with Moscow.
There are about 8,000 Ukrainian prisoners of war being held in the Russian-backed self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Lugansk and Donetsk, Lugansk official Rodion Mirosnik was quoted as saying by TASS news agency.
Reuters notes that it was not able to confirm from independent sources the information from the battlefield.
Lisichansk police are burying the bodies of civilians in mass graves, said Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Gaidai. About 150 dead were buried in a grave in a regionhe added.
Families of the dead being buried will be able to bury their dead again after the war, and police are issuing documents enabling Ukrainians to obtain death certificates for their loved ones, Gaidai said.
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