Poltava massacre: Russia justifies the bombing target in which 53 people died as a military center in Ukraine

Russia said on Wednesday that the attack it carried out on Tuesday against the Ukrainian city of Poltava, in which 53 people diedaimed at a military training center led by foreign instructors.

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the 179th joint training center is preparing Communications and electronic warfare specialists of all military units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In addition, the military statement adds, drone operators who participated in “attacks” were trained at the center. against civilian targets on the territory of the Russian Federation.”

New assessment of the Poltava attack

Ukrainian emergency services acknowledged on Wednesday that the death toll from the attack, one of the most serious since the beginning of the war, The death toll has risen to 53 people, to which 298 more are injured.

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyexplained that the two Russian missiles partially destroyed a Communications Institute in Poltava, but at no point did he allude to the military nature of the facilities.

The Ministry of Defense, whose top brass has been criticized for concentrating a large number of soldiers in such an exposed place, has opened an investigation into clarify the circumstances in which the massive attack took place.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had threatened Kiev with retaliation for Ukraine’s border incursion into the Kursk region, which this week marks one month.

New Russian bombings: seven dead in Lviv after attack

The day after a particularly bloody attack in Poltava, Ukraine suffered on Wednesday New Russian bombingsin which Seven people diedincluding three children, in Lviv, in the west of the country and hundreds of kilometres from the front line.

Moscow has stepped up its attacks on Ukraine since kyiv launched a surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region last month, seizing hundreds of square kilometres.

“Seven people, including children, have died.” in the city of Lviv, the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office said on Telegram, explaining that “search and rescue operations continue.”

A total of 53 people were also injured, according to the regional military administration. At the same time, more than 50 buildings were damaged in the city centre, including two medical institutions and two schools, according to the Ministry of Culture.

“I heard terrible and inhuman screams,” he told the Afp Ielyzaveta, 27, who lives in the affected neighborhood.

The buildings in the center were left covered in soot and there were charred cars and debris scattered on the groundas a journalist from the Afp.

Reshuffle in the Ukrainian government and progress on the Donbas front

On the political front, at least seven Ukrainian officials, including top diplomat Dmytro Kuleba, in office since 2020, resigned on Tuesday.

In addition to Kuleba, one of the leading voices for the Ukrainian cause at the international level, the ministers of Strategic Industries, Justice and Environment resigned.

It’s been a long time since we had such a rhythm in the offensive in Donbas.

And the head of the Ukrainian power grid operator Ukrenergo, Volodimir Kudritski, announced on Monday that he had been dismissed.

Zelensky justified the changes by saying that it was necessary ““new energy” after two and a half years of Russian invasion.

In recent weeks, the Russian army has continued to advance in eastern Ukraine, particularly towards Pokrovsk, an important logistics centre less than 10 kilometres away.

The commander of the Ukrainian army Oleksandr Syrsky admitted that the situation there is “difficult” And on Wednesday, Russian troops claimed the capture of another town in this area, Karlivka.

“It’s been a long time since we had such a pace in the offensive in Donbas,” the official said on Monday. Russian President Vladimir Putin.