Russian shells slam into eastern Ukraine, killing 3 people
Ukrainian authorities say at least three civilians have been killed and nearly 20 others wounded in the latest Russian artillery barrages
ByPAUL BYRNE Associated Press
August 15, 2022, 2:58 PM
KYIV, Ukraine -- At least three Ukrainian civilians have been killed and nearly 20 others wounded in the latest artillery barrages from the Russian military, Ukrainian officials said Monday.
The eastern region of Donetsk, one of the two provinces making up the country’s industrial heartland of Donbas that has been the focus of a Russian offensive, has faced the most intense shelling.
Regional officials said at least three people died and another 13 were wounded by Russian shelling that hit numerous towns and villages in the Donetsk region during the last 24 hours. The barrage has damaged dozens of residential buildings and civilian infrastructure.
In the country’s second-largest city of Kharkiv, five civilians were wounded in the latest Russian shelling early Monday, according to the city's mayor, Ihor Terekhov.
The Russian forces also struck several other regions of Ukraine with rockets and artillery.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Monday that Russian warplanes have struck Ukrainian army positions in the southern Kherson region and in the Donetsk region. He added that the Russian air force also hit a facility in the Kharkiv region, killing at least 100 and wounding 50 “mercenaries” from Poland and Germany. His claims couldn't be independently verified.
Speaking at the opening of an arms show outside Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed the military's action in Ukraine, declaring that it “fights for Russia ... and fulfilling all the tasks that were set, liberating the Donbas step by step.”
For their part, the Ukrainian military claimed to have destroyed more than 10 Russian warehouses with ammunition and military equipment in the past week.
In other developments Monday:
—— Lawyers for American basketball star Brittney Griner filed an appeal against her nine-year Russian prison sentence for drug possession, Russian news agencies reported. Griner, a center for the Phoenix Mercury and a two-time Olympic gold medalist, was convicted on Aug. 4. She was arrested in February at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport after vape canisters containing cannabis oil were found in her luggage.