Sixty people are feared dead under rubble after a Russian bomb hit a school in eastern Ukraine.
About 90 people were sheltering in the building when the bomb went off, sparking a fire that engulfed it on Saturday, the governor of the Luhansk region said.
Two people have been confirmed dead and “another 60 are likely to have died under the rubble,” Serhiy Gaidai wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Thirty people have been rescued, seven of whom were injured, it added.
Russia claims to have destroyed a Ukrainian warship: live updates on the war
About 60 people are trapped under the rubble, Ukraine says. Photo: Luhansk State Emergency Service
The attack on the town of Bilohorivka came as Russian forces kept up their bombardment of Ukrainehitting the main Black Sea port of Odessa with cruise missiles.
They have also bombed steel mills along the Mariupol coast, where Ukrainian fighters were trapped underground.
Vladimir Putin aims to complete the conquest of Mariupol in time for Russia’s Victory Day celebrations on Monday, but his forces still face stiff resistance inside bunkers below the factory.
In RussiaVictory Day, May 9, is one of the country’s most important national events: a reminder of the sacrifices made by the Soviet Union to defeat Nazi Germany.
Russian troops take part in a rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade in Moscow.
‘Evil is back’
In an emotional speech on Victory Day Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said: “Evil is back. Again.
“In a different way, under different slogans, but with the same purpose.”
Zelenskyy will hold talks with Boris Johnson, Joe Biden and leaders of other G7 nations on Sunday to discuss additional support.
It comes after the UK said it would provide a further £1.3bn in military support to the Ukrainian forces.
In a sign of Ukraine’s effective defense in the 11th week of the war, its army razed Russian positions on a Black Sea island that was captured in the early days of the conflict and has become a symbol of resistance.
Satellite photos showed that Ukraine was targeting the Russian-controlled Snake Island in a bid to impede Moscow’s efforts to control the Black Sea.
A satellite image shows smoke rising after a suspected Ukrainian drone attack on Russian positions on Snake Island. Photo: Planet Labs PBC via AP
Snake Island, located about 20 miles offshore, figured in a memorable incident early in the war when Ukrainian border guards stationed there defied Russian orders to surrender, allegedly using colorful language.
Meanwhile, Western military analysts also said a Ukrainian counteroffensive was advancing around the country’s second largest city, Kharkiv.
Ukraine’s military said retreating Russian forces destroyed three bridges on a road northeast of the city to try to stop the Ukrainian advance.
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Russian troops in “full combat readiness” in Moldova
In neighboring Moldova, Russian and separatist troops are on “high alert”, the Ukrainian military has warned.
the region has becoming more and more a focus of concern that the conflict could spread beyond Ukraine’s borders.
Pro-Russian forces broke up the Transnistria section of Moldova in 1992, and Russian troops have been stationed there ever since, ostensibly as peacekeepers.
Those forces are in “full combat readiness,” Ukraine said, without elaborating on how it arrived at the assessment.
Moscow has tried to sweep southern Ukraine both to cut off the country from the sea and to create a corridor to Transnistria, but has struggled to achieve those goals.
Reference-news.sky.com