The Ukrainian government describes the bombing as a “war crime” while Moscow intensifies the assaults in this region
Victory Day, a date that commemorates the victory over Nazi Germany and that Russian President Vladimir Putin had highlighted on his calendar since he ordered the invasion of Ukraine, arrives marked this Monday by the Russian bombing of a school in Bilohorivka which could have caused dozens of deaths. This town is located in the Lugansk province and 90 people were sheltering in the center, according to the governor of the region, Serhiy Haida. The authorities assured that at least 30 of them managed to get out of the rubble, but “there are few options to find someone else alive,” in Haida’s words. There are two deceased and the rescue teams were looking for sixty missing people last night.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned what it described as a “brutal war crime” and the United Nations reminded Moscow that “attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure, including schools, is a violation of international humanitarian law.”
After more than 70 days of offensive, Russia has intensified its operations in Donbas on the eve of an emblematic date that this Monday arrives without being able to obtain a great victory. Lugansk is the focus of major operations following the invaders’ assault on Severodonetsk, an industrial city that was home to 100,000 people before the war, and on Popasna, from which Ukrainian forces have withdrawn.
The governor explained that the departure of the troops is due to “the need to establish stronger positions that have been prepared for a long time.” What the Ukrainians expect above all is the deployment of the new American and European weapons that, according to Haidai, have already reached the conflict zone and that “can change the course of the war”, as has already been proven on other fronts. Until now.
However, the Kremlin reported this Sunday the “elimination” of a Ukrainian infantry brigade, as well as the destruction of weapons, three helicopters and two combat aircraft mobilized thanks to Western aid. The Armed Forces of Ukraine assured, for their part, that they had killed 400 Russian soldiers in 24 hours in the Novopavlovsk region and shot down an Mi-8 helicopter near the island of Serpents.
Loss of ground in Kharkiv
The Russian advances in Luhansk contrast with the loss of ground on the Kharkov front, where Ukrainian forces are advancing. The counteroffensive works and the liberation of villages and towns removes the threat of the artillery that punishes the second most important city in the country since the first day of war.
The Russians leave and the civilians slowly return to their homes. This is the image that lives in villages like Malaya Roha, located just 20 kilometers from the center of Kharkov. Known for producing milk from her cows, she is now waking up after weeks under an occupation whose legacy is the bodies of Russian soldiers rotting in the fields, busted tanks and houses looted and destroyed by fighting.
Olga, 67, has not left her home in all this time and remembers that “the first Russians who arrived did not treat us badly, but when the replacement took place the problems began. Very nervous and aggressive young people came, they had no supplies and they went house to house looking for food and drink, then they took what they wanted. She also has the date of May 9 marked on her calendar and she will celebrate the day “by eating the traditional cold okroshka soup because this is a day to remember all over the world. It is not owned by Russia, much less by Putin.”
A few meters from his house, Yevgeni struggles to find traces of copper and aluminum in a huge charred Russian tank. “I’m going to sweat to be able to get something out of these burned remains, but the war has skyrocketed costs and the pension is no longer enough,” he says from the top of the armored car’s skeleton. The recycling of Russian burned scrap metal is one of the challenges that Ukraine also faces.
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