Ukraine says 5 dead in Russia strikes in east of country, blasts near Kyiv
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Medics transport an injured woman to the hospital in Severodonetsk, Luhansk region, on April 14, 2022.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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KYIV, UKRAINE (AFP) - Ukraine said on Friday (April 15) that Russian strikes had killed five people in the east of the country after President Volodymyr Zelensky said Moscow's forces were aiming to "destroy" the region.
In a report issued by the presidency, Kyiv said two people had been killed and two more wounded in the eastern Luhansk region, while another three had been killed and seven wounded in the neighbouring Donetsk region.
The presidency said "fighting was continuing along the entire front line" in Donetsk.
In a late-night address on Thursday, Mr Zelensky said that "Donbass is the main target for Russia".
"It's Donbass that Russia wants to destroy. It is the Luhansk and Donetsk regions that Russian troops are destroying so that only stones remain and so there are no people left at all."
The statement on Friday added that explosions were heard in the Vasylkiv area outside the capital and that according to initially available information, air defences had been activated.
Since Russian troops began withdrawing from regions of the capital last month, air sirens have been heard less frequently.
They have instead focused on gaining control of the eastern Donbass region.
