On the 6 of July, Luhansk’s Governor Serhiy Haidai claimed during a statement that the Russian Army is “burning down and destroying everything on its way” in the provinces of Luhansk, and Donetsk. In this situation, the main target of these attacks are civilians: last week, an indiscriminate shelling on civilian areas killed at least 8 people and wounded more than 25. According to the Ukrainian presidential office, the majority of the civilian casualties happened in the Donetsk province, where Russia has concentrated its operation in recent weeks. For this reason, last week Donetsk’s Governor urged 350.000 people still living in the area to evacuate and to enable the Ukrainian Army to better defend the region.
Moreover, several shellings occurred from the beginning of July, causing countless civilian deaths. On the 5 and 6 of July, four civilians were reported killed and 14 injured, according to separatist authorities in Donetsk. Russian forces also launched missile attacks overnight against Kharkiv, the second-largest city in Ukraine, to the north of Donetsk, according to Oleh Synyehubov, the regional governor of Kharkiv; on this occasion, three districts were the targets. According to the governor, three people, including a child, were hurt, and one person died.
Currently, the situation is alarming and everywhere in the Eastern part of the country, governors are encouraging civilians to leave. As Oleksandr Senkevych, mayor of Mykolaiv affirmed, “I am telling the people … that they need to leave […] There are no safe areas.”
To read more, visit:
- https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/7/6/russia-using-scorched-earth-tactics-in-eastern-ukraine
- https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-news-live-russian-pilot-captured-as-ukrainian-forces-have-to-be-withdrawn-from-severodonetsk-12541713
- https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/7/10/russia-ukraine-live-news-canada-to-return-nord-stream-1-turbine
- https://edition.cnn.com/2022/07/10/europe/ukraine-russia-donetsk-attack-intl/index.html
by Alexia Tenneriello
