Russian rockets kill eight in eastern Ukraine

LYMAN, Ukraine – Eight people were killed and 13 injured on Saturday in Lyman in eastern Ukraine after the town came under Russian rocket fire, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said.

“So far we know about eight (are) dead... The number of injured has increased to 13 people,” the ministry said on social media.

The strikes hit at around 10am local time at two intersections that were busy with pedestrians, witnesses told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

A residential building, an annex to a printing house and three cars were set on fire in the attack, the ministry said.

AFP journalists arriving on the scene in the afternoon saw three charred vehicles in front of a vehicle supply store.

Traces of blood were visible at both intersections.

“There were explosions everywhere, I didn’t know where to hide,” Ms Nadya Bereinaya, 69, told AFP.

“Today is Saturday, so there were a lot of people (at the intersections).”

Mr Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the Donetsk region where Lyman is located, said “at around 10am, the Russians struck the town with multiple rocket launchers”.

Lyman, a major rail hub, was initially captured by Russian forces but then retaken by Ukraine’s army last October.

Ukraine had reported Russian offensive operations in the area last week.

In the Russian-controlled town of Oleshky in southern Ukraine, an emergency services official was quoted by Tass news agency as saying two civilians were killed by Ukrainian fire overnight.

On Sunday, Russia said its air defence systems shot down two missiles, one over the annexed Crimean peninsula and the other over Russia’s southern Rostov region that also borders Ukraine.

A cruise missile was shot down near the city of Kerch on the Crimean peninsula, without inflicting any damage or casualties, Russia-installed Governor Sergei Aksyonov wrote on the Telegram messaging app. He did not specify where the missile had been launched from.

Crimea was annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014, but is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine.

Local officials said traffic movement on the Crimean Bridge that links the peninsula to the Russian mainland was restored after an apparent suspension. No reason for the traffic halt was given.

In the Rostov incident, there were no casualties, Governor Vasily Golubev said on Telegram, but “debris partially damaged the roofs of several buildings”.

Ukrainian forces in June began a counter-offensive to take back Russian-controlled territory in the east and south of the country.

Facing powerful Russian defensive lines, they have recaptured only a few hundred square kilometres and about a dozen villages after more than a month. AFP