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Twin Sisters Among Those Killed In Russian Shelling Over The Past 24 Hours

By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service June 28, 2023

More than a dozen civilians, including two 14-year-old twin sisters, have been killed in Russian strikes on Ukraine over the past day, regional officials said on June 28.

In the latest strike, three civilians in Ukraine's eastern Kharkiv region were killed by Russian shelling on June 28 as the casualty toll from a missile attack the previous evening in the neighboring Donetsk region rose to 11 dead and 61 wounded.

Kharkiv regional Governor Oleh Synehubov announced on Telegram that "three civilians in the village of Vovchanskiy Khutory were killed near their homes" as a result of the June 28 attack. The Ukrainian Prosecutor-General's office reported that a 69-year-old woman was injured in the strike and was fighting for her life.

The shelling came as Russian forces continued their aerial assault around the country and rescuers continued to search for survivors of the deadly missile strike that targeted the Donetsk region city of Kramatorsk on the evening of June 27.

Veronika Bakhal, spokeswoman for the Donetsk region emergency services, told Ukrainian television on June 28 that as of midday "rescuers have recovered the bodies of 10 people from the rubble" in Kramatorsk. Authorities later raised the number of dead to 11.

Bakhal said eight people had been rescued alive and at least three more were believed to still be trapped among the debris.

Kramatorsk was targeted by two Russian missiles on June 28 in the evening, with one hitting a crowded restaurant and shopping center in the city center and a second hitting a village on the outskirts of the city in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region.

The 14-year-old twin sisters were among the victims, according to a Telegram post by the Kramatorsk City Council, which said that "a Russian rocket stopped the beating of the hearts of two angels."

Early on June 28, Kramatorsk Mayor Oleksandr Honcharenko wrote on Facebook that the body of a boy had been pulled from the rubble. An 8-month-old baby was injured but there was "no threat to his life," the National Police said in a message on Facebook.

The head of the Donetsk military administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said 18 multistory buildings, five schools, and two kindergartens had been destroyed in addition to the shopping center and pizzeria, which was reportedly frequented by journalists, aid workers, and soldiers.

The second missile that hit the outskirts of the city left five injured. A third missile hit buildings in Kremenchuk, a city in central Ukraine's Poltava region, but no casualties were reported.

In a related development, Ukrainian authorities on June 28 arrested a local man accused of directing the strike on the Kramatorsk city center, which reports indicated was carried out using either an S-300 surface-to-air missile or an Iskander ballistic missile.

Kramatorsk is a major city in the Donetsk region that houses the Ukrainian Army's regional headquarters and is likely a key objective in any Russian advance to the west. It has been a frequent target of Russian attacks.

It was hit on May 2 by rockets fired from a Tornado multiple-rocket launcher. Russian forces claimed a railcar full of ammunition was destroyed in that strike.

In April 2022, 63 people were killed in a Russian strike on Kramatorsk's main railway station. At least two other strikes have hit apartment buildings and civilian infrastructure in the city this year.

In response to the outcry over the attack, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on June 28 claimed Russia only carries out strikes "that are in one way or another linked to military structure."

Moscow has repeatedly denied shelling the civilian population in Ukraine despite evidence and testimony to the contrary.

As of June 18, the UN confirmed 9,083 civilian deaths in Ukraine as a result of the full-scale invasion launched by Russia in February 2022.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, speaking in his nightly video address, said that the attacks on Kramatorsk showed that Russia "deserved only one thing as a consequence of what it has done -- defeat and a tribunal."

In Washington, the White House condemned Russia for its "brutal strikes" against Kramatorsk and would continue to support Ukraine in its efforts to defend itself and to regain territory occupied by Russian forces.

"We condemn Russia's brutal strikes against the people of Ukraine, which have caused widespread death and destruction and taken the lives of so many Ukrainian civilians," a spokesman for the White House National Security Council said on June 28.

The spokesman added that President Joe Biden told Zelenskiy on June 25 that the United States "will continue to stand with Ukraine and provide Ukraine with weapons and equipment to defend itself against Russian aggression."

On June 27, the Pentagon announced a new military package for Ukraine worth up to $500 million that will include the provision of Bradley fighting vehicles, Stryker armored personnel carriers, and other equipment.

Zelenskiy said on Twitter that he was "sincerely grateful" for the latest arms delivery, while the Russian Embassy in Washington said the new package by the United States "only confirms its obsession with the idea of inflicting a strategic defeat on the Russian Federation."

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Air Force reported early on June 28 that six Iranian Shahed drones launched "from the southeastern direction" by Russian forces overnight had been shot down.

The Ukrainian military also said that its ongoing counteroffensive in the east of the country continues with a focus on the Lyman, Bakhmut, and Maryinka fronts.

Amid concerns that the counteroffensive has gone more slowly than expected, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov told the Financial Times on June 28 that Ukrainian forces have made "certain gains" that the country's military leaders had not made public to avoid exposing troops.

Reznikov also said that most of Ukraine's troop reserves, including brigades equipped with modern Western weapons, have not been used in the counteroffensive.

In a speech to parliament on Ukraine's Constitution Day on June 28, Zelenskiy said he would not accept any peace proposal that turns Russia's war on his country into a frozen conflict.

Zelenskiy's remarks signaled that he remains opposed to any peace plan that freezes territorial gains made by Russia since it began its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Zelenskiy has drawn up a 10-point peace "formula" that includes restoring Ukraine's territorial integrity, the withdrawal of Russian troops, and the restoration of Ukraine's state borders.

Meanwhile, the Lithuanian and Polish presidents visited Kyiv on June 28 to meet Zelenskiy and show support for Ukraine's bids to join NATO and the EU, ahead of summits by both bodies.

EU leaders hold their regular summit in Brussels on June 29-30 this week, and NATO is holding its annual summit in Vilnius in two weeks.

Zelenskiy has been pressing in particular for the NATO summit to include a "political invitation" for Ukraine to join the Western military alliance.

With reporting by Reuters and AP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-kramatorsk-russian- missiles-crowded-civilian-deaths/32478461.html

Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.