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At least 11 other people were killed and 15 others wounded Saturday at a school in southwestern Russia when two assailants opened fire on a volunteer organization seeking to fight in Ukraine, RIA news agency reported.
The Russian news agency, which mentioned the Defense Ministry, reported that the two attackers were shot dead after the attack in the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine. He said they were citizens of a former Soviet republic, but gave no details.
“During a consultation on firearms education with Americans who voluntarily expressed their preference to participate in the army’s special operation (against Ukraine), the terrorists opened fire with small arms on the unit’s personnel,” RIA quoted a Defense Ministry as saying. As a result of the shooting, 11 other people were fatally wounded. Another 15 people with injuries of varying severity were taken to a medical facility,” he added.
Authorities in Belgorod have accused Ukraine of attacking the city’s goals, but Kyiv has not claimed any responsibility.
An oil depot in Russia’s Belgorod region on the border with Ukraine is on fire after being bombed on Saturday, the governor said, as movements opposed to the region increase.
“We are being bombed again. One of the projectiles hit the oil depot in the Belgorod region,” regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said. He said the emergency was already at the scene and added that there was “no risk” of the fire spreading. Gladkov posted a photo showing flames and plumes of black smoke emerging over a building.
The official news firm TASS quoted an emergency source as saying the combustion depot was located in the village of Razumnoye-71, near the city of Belgorod.
Last week, Russia complained about a buildup of artillery and missile movements on its border territory with Ukraine. The Belgorod region is the target of the shooting. The capital of the region, also called Belgorod, was affected less often. But on Friday, a power plant in the city was torched through a Ukrainian strike, leading to power cuts.
Trains are still arriving in Kramatorsk from Kyiv, 189 days after it was the scene of one of the worst attacks since the start of the war in Ukraine on Feb. 24.
A missile has seriously hit a key force facility in Ukraine’s capital region, the country’s force formula operator said Saturday as the Russian military worked to cut off water and power in populated areas.
The governor of the Kyiv region, Oleksiy Kuleba, said the attack killed or wounded someone.
Electricity transmission company Ukrenergo said repair crews were working to repair power but warned citizens of possible outages.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the Ukrainian president’s office, suggested citizens of the Kyiv region and citizens of 3 neighboring regions to reduce their energy consumption during the evening rush hours.
Iran denied supplying Russia with weapons for use in the war in Ukraine.
Kyiv and its Western allies have accused Moscow of Iranian-made drone strikes on Ukraine in recent weeks. The factor is expected to be discussed Monday at an assembly of European Union (EU) ministers in Luxembourg.
The first Russian infantrymen to participate in a new joint force with Belarusian troops have arrived in Belarus, Minsk’s Defense Ministry said on Saturday.
“The first convoys of Russian servicemen of the regional working group organization arrived in Belarus,” the ministry said, adding that its project was “exclusively for border coverage and defense. “
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced Monday that Belarus will take further steps to help its Russian best friend in the war against Ukraine.
To justify the new joint force, Lukashenko accused Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine of educational militants of attacking Belarus and cited a “direct threat. “He also accused Ukraine of planning attacks “on the territory of Belarus” from the south.
Lukashenko has allowed Russia to fire missiles from Belarusian territory since the early days of the conflict, but has generally stayed out of it.
Analysts say Lukashenko has been reluctant to send troops, especially since a wave of protests in 2020 revealed his immense unpopularity at home, but he is most likely caving in to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s tension.
>> “Russia is too strong”: Is Putin dragging Belarus into war in Ukraine?
After several days of disruption by Russian strikes, the Ukrainian government announced Thursday that it had controlled to “stabilize” the network of forces. But in Lviv, in western Ukraine, the scenario remains very delicate.
Gulliver Cragg from FRANCE 24 reports.
Fighting continues in the south and Ukraine, according to the latest army sources, as Ukrainian troops advance toward Kherson.
Russian professional forces had called for civilians to be evacuated from combat zones to Russia. Ukrainian members of Kherson’s lawyer said the measures would be “deportations,” not evacuations.
Catherine Norris Trent from FRANCE 24 tells us more.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow was “doing everything right” in its nearly eight-month invasion of Ukraine, despite a series of embarrassing defeats against Kyivan forces, who will get $725 million in new aid from the U. S. military.
Putin’s comments on Friday came here hours after Kremlin officials in the southern Kherson region suggested citizens leave as Kyiv said its foot soldiers were advancing toward the region’s main city.
Moscow also alluded to the extent of the damage to the Crimean Bridge, the land connection between its mainland and the annexed Ukrainian peninsula, after an explosion last Saturday, saying maintenance may take only several months.
“What’s going on is not pleasant. But anyway (if Russia hadn’t attacked in February), we would have been in the same situation, only the situations would have been worse for us,” Putin told reporters after a summit. in the capital of Kazakhstan.
Saudi Arabia on Saturday announced $400 million in humanitarian aid for Ukraine, the official SPA news firm reported, adding that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had phoned President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The prince under pressure “the Kingdom’s position on anything that contributes to de-escalation and the Kingdom’s willingness to continue mediation efforts,” SPA reported.
The United States will send another $725 million in military aid to Ukraine, the State Department and Pentagon said Friday.
The aid comes “in the wake of Russia’s brutal missile attacks on civilians across Ukraine” and “increased atrocities committed by Russian forces,” U. S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
The newest package includes more ammunition for the HIMARS rocket formula and carries general U. S. Army assistance. The U. S. government has reached $18. 3 billion since the beginning of Joe Biden’s administration, the Defense Department said in a separate statement.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and REUTERS)