Russian strike on Ukraine city kills 23

KYIV • Rescue workers were digging through debris yesterday, a day after Russian missiles tore through Vinnytsia in central Ukraine, killing 23 people including children, in an attack President Volodymyr Zelensky said was an act of terrorism.

Russia claimed the strikes had targeted a meeting of Ukrainian military officials and foreign arms suppliers, without providing supporting evidence.

But among those confirmed killed was four-year-old Liza Dmitrieva, who had Down's Syndrome and whose death spurred an outpouring of grief - including from Ukraine's First Lady - after footage on social media of her final moment alive went viral.

The midday blast left smoke billowing from burnt-out shops and the charred remains of cars.

Hundreds of rescue workers were clearing debris yesterday from gutted buildings and searching for those still missing.

"No other state in the world poses such a terrorist threat as Russia," a sombre Mr Zelensky said late on Thursday, warning that the death toll was likely to rise.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was "appalled" by the attack, while the European Union condemned it as an "atrocity".

Both also called for accountability.

The Ukrainian presidency said 18 people were missing and 73 had been hospitalised.

More than 400 people were involved in clean-up operations, the emergency services announced.

The missile strikes on Vinnytsia are the latest Russian attacks with a high civilian toll and come less than a week after strikes on Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region left nearly 50 dead.

Amid the human suffering, Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine said yesterday they were closing in on their next target, Siversk, after wresting control of sister cities Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk two weeks ago.

"Ukraine has decided to gradually pull its units from the town of Siversk," Mr Andrey Marochko, a spokesman for the separatist forces, told Russian state news agency TASS.

Donetsk separatist official Daniil Versonov, meanwhile, said fighters were "clearing" eastern districts of Siversk in small groups.

Russian forces have been slowly advancing west, following shelling and probing assaults towards Siversk from Lysychansk, said Britain's Defence Ministry yesterday.

"Bakhmut is likely to be the next objective, once Siversk is secured," the ministry tweeted in a regular bulletin.

Hitting back, Ukraine is using Western-supplied long-range weapons and 155mm "smart" shells to hit Russian ammo dumps and supply lines, forcing Moscow to rethink how it supplies fuel and ammunition to the front line, a Ukrainian general said.

Ukraine has unleashed new Himars rocket systems from the United States, striking targets deep in Russian-held territory.

Separately, the authorities in the southern city of Mykolaiv reported fresh Russian strikes yesterday morning which wounded at least two people. They released video pictures of firefighters battling the blaze in the rubble.

Despite the bloodshed, both sides have described important progress in recent days towards an agreement that would lift a blockade that has restricted the export of Ukrainian grain, after negotiations mediated by Turkey.

Moscow welcomed a written clarification issued by Washington on Thursday that banks, insurers and shippers would not be targeted by US sanctions for facilitating shipments of Russian grain and fertiliser.

That appeared to be a step towards satisfying one of Russia's demands before it lifts its blockade of Ukrainian ports. Turkey says an agreement could be signed next week.

In another development, pro-Moscow authorities said yesterday that British citizen Paul Urey had died in captivity.

"He died on July 10," said Mr Darya Morozova, a representative of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, which claims Mr Urey was a combatant who took part in conflicts in Afghanistan and the Middle East.

Non-governmental organisations, however, describe Mr Urey as a humanitarian who was volunteering in Ukraine.

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE