Russian forces are creating "true hell" within Ukraine's eastern industrial center, despite assessments that they were taking an operational stop, a regional governor stated Saturday. Another Ukrainian official called for people living in Russian-occupied areas in the southern regions to flee as soon as possible "by all means possible" before a counteroffensive from Ukraine.
In Ukraine's south and east, there was a report of Russian shelling.
Serhyi Haidai (the governor of eastern Luhansk), stated that Russia had launched over 20 rocket, mortar, and artillery strikes on the region overnight, and its forces were pushing toward the Donetsk border.
Haidai posted on Telegram that "We are trying to confine the Russians' arm formations along the whole front line."
Russia took control of the city Lysychansk, which was the last stronghold of Ukrainian resistance at Luhansk. Analysts believed that Moscow's troops would need some time to regroup and rearm.
The enemy has not yet announced an operational pause. Haidai stated that he is still bombarding and shelling our lands at the same intensity as before. Later, he stated that the Russian bombardment in Luhansk was stopped because Ukrainian forces destroyed the ammunition depots and barracks used Russians.
Iryna Vereshchuk (Ukraine's deputy prime Minister) appealed for residents of Russian-held territory in the south to flee as soon as possible so that the occupying forces wouldn't use them during a counteroffensive.
She said, "You must search for a way out because our armed forces will be coming to de-occupy." "There will be a huge fight."
Vereshchuk spoke at a press conference on Friday to say that a civil evacuation was in progress for Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. Safety reasons meant that she declined to provide details.
It wasn't clear how civilians would leave Russian-controlled areas safely, given the ongoing missile strikes and artillery bombardment in surrounding areas. Also, it was unclear if they would be allowed or allowed to hear the government's appeal.
The death toll from war continued to rise.
Pavlo Kyrylenko (the governor of the Donetsk region) wrote Saturday that five people died and eight others were wounded by Russian shelling in Siversk and Semyhirya.
Rescuers pulled a 40 year-old man, who was in the rubble of a destroyed building by shelling, from Sloviansk. Kyrylenko stated that multiple people were hiding under the rubble.
According to regional authorities, Russian missiles also killed and injured three people Saturday in Kryvyi Rih's southern city.
Valentyn Reznichenko (guvernor of the eastern Dnipropetrovsk) stated on Telegram that "they deliberately targeted residential areas." Oleksandr Vilkul (Kryvyi Rih mayor) stated on Facebook that cluster munitions had been used. He urged residents to avoid approaching unfamiliar objects in the street. Saturday night saw more explosions.
Kryvyi Rih, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zeleskyy visited on Friday to meet Vilkul and the brigadier-general who leads troops in the region. According to Zelenskyy’s office, he was briefed about the "construction and support of troops," the supply of food and medicines to the city, and the assistance given to those who fled their homes in Ukraine to seek refuge in Kryvyi Rih.
Authorities in northeast Ukraine said that a Russian rocket attack on Saturday struck the centre of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city. It injured six people, including a 12-year old girl.
According to the Kharkiv regional prosecutor's Office, "An Iskander missile ballistic missile was likely used." "One of the missiles struck a two-story building which resulted in its destruction. The missiles also damaged nearby houses.
The war has seen the city targeted several times over the past week. First responders carefully inspected the damaged building after Saturday's strike as Valentina Mirgorodksaya, a survivor, licked her cheek.
Oleksandr Senkevych, Mykolaiv Mayor, reported that six Russian missiles had been fired at his town in southern Ukraine near to the Black Sea. However, no casualties were reported.
In his nightly video address, Zelenskyy stated that Russia had hit Mykolaiv and Kharkiv on this day. It struck residential areas deliberately and purposefully. The Russian artillery's brutal strikes on civilian areas have continued for days. Only modern, powerful weapons can stop terrorist actions like these."
Russian defense officials claimed that Saturday's attack on a U.S.-owned hangar in Donetsk, near Chasiv Yar, resulted in the destruction of the howitzers. The Ukrainian government did not immediately respond.
The Biden administration confirmed that it will send $400 million more in military aid to Ukraine on Friday. This is the 15th shipment made since the war started. According to the Defense Department, the package will contain four high mobility artillery missile systems. According to the Defense Department, more than $7 billion has been spent on ammunition and equipment by the United States for Ukraine.
Zelenskyy also dismissed several ambassadors on Saturday. This included Andriy Melnyk (the Ukrainian ambassador to Germany), who was a vocal advocate for Kyiv's cause, but also raised eyebrows in Berlin. He was critical of Germany's slowness in providing heavy weapons. He was also criticised for an interview where he defended Stepan Bendera, a controversial World War II-era Ukrainian nationalist. According to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Melnyk spoke only for himself. Zelenskyy stated that the removal of ambassadors was part of routine rotation. Melnyk was in the same post since 2015.
