By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Local authorities in Ukraine declared a day of mourning on Sunday after Russian missiles reportedly slammed into the southern town of Vilniansk, killing seven civilians, including children, and wounding dozens more. Separately, officials said that in Ukraine’s war-torn eastern Donetsk region and southern Kherson area, a total of nine people were killed since Saturday. The attacks have prompted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to ask for Western help to deter more Russian attacks.
The horrors of Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War Two were revealed again. Witnesses said Sunday they saw bodies stretched out under picnic blankets in a park in Vilniansk.
There are deep craters in the blackened earth next to the charred, twisted remains of a building that authorities said was hit by Russian missiles.
“It’s now a ruined place. It used to be a building that included a barbecue restaurant. They made Ukrainian fast food there,” recalled Vilniansk resident Oleksandr. “There was also a hairdresser. But that’s all gone. I understand that many people died here.”
Local Governor Ivan Fedorov said that three children were among the seven dead.
Besides those killed, at least 36 people were reportedly wounded in Saturday evening’s devastating attack, which prompted local authorities to declare a day of mourning on Sunday.
“All the people helped, the wounded were loaded into cars,” recalls store owner Andrii. “I also took them out with my car. And people helped each other. It’s very sad. ”
MASSIVE DAMAGE
Fedorov clarified that the Russian strike damaged one or more shops, residential buildings, and an unspecified “critical infrastructure” facility in Vilniansk.
The town had a population of around 14,300 before Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In the aftermath of the Vilniansk attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Kyiv’s Western partners to bolster its air defenses and long-range munitions to deter Russian attacks.
However, he also expressed hope, thanking the Vatican for helping with the release by Russia of 10 prisoners over the weekend, including two priests. “Today, I also attended the national prayer breakfast and personally congratulated the priests released from captivity Bohdan Heleta and Ivan Levytskyi. I also thanked all the representatives of church and religious communities for supporting our people, our communities, for helping our state in this extremely difficult time of war,” he added.
Yet the devastation in Vilniansk underscored that the war isn’t over. The town is in Zaporizhzhia region, less than 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the local capital and north of the front lines, as Russian forces continue to occupy part of the province.
In the aftermath of the Vilniansk attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Kyiv’s Western partners to bolster its air defenses and long-range munitions to deter Russian attacks.
Russia continues to stretch out Ukrainian forces in several areas along the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front. Moscow has stepped up airstrikes in a bid to drain Ukraine’s resources, often targeting energy facilities and other vital infrastructure.
DONETSK ATTACKED
In Ukraine’s war-torn eastern Donetsk region, authorities said eight civilians died and 14 more suffered wounds on Saturday and overnight as near-daily shelling continues in much of the province.
Shelling reportedly also killed one civilian and wounded five more over the same period in the southern Kherson region.
Officials also said that four people were wounded in the Kharkiv province in the northeast. It was the site of fierce battles in recent months as Russia launched a cross-border push that threatened Ukraine’s second-largest city.
Yet in Russia itself, the Russian Defense Ministry on Sunday claimed its forces overnight shot down three dozen Ukrainian drones over six regions in Russia’s southwest.
Debris from one drone reportedly fell on a village in the Kursk region, blowing out windows and damaging roofs and fences. In the city of Lipetsk, further north, a drone was apparently shot down as it appeared to target the industrial zone.
There were no casualties in either case, but the underscored that Ukraine is increasingly hitting targets inside Russia as it desperately tries to halt a full-scale Russian invasion now in its third year.
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
A massive barrage of Israeli airstrikes hit Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon just after the terrorist group’s leader declared that two days of intense hybrid bombings, including the detonation of pagers and walkie-talkies targeting Hezbollah forces, amounted to a declaration of war.
Facing relentless violence against their communities by Islamic jihadist terror groups, 16.2 million Christians in sub-Saharan Africa have now been forced to flee their homes and live in poverty-stricken Internally Displaced People (IDP) camps, the Christian Post (CP) reports.
A Pakistani court has sentenced Shagufta Kiran, a Christian mother of four, to death for “committing blasphemy against Islam,” a senior Christian advocacy activist told Worthy News Thursday.
Amid Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has reiterated that the kingdom would not recognize Israel without the establishment of a Palestinian state, the Times of Israel reports. The Crown Prince made his remarks during an annual speech to the advisory Shura Council on Wednesday (September 18).
Taiwanese company Gold Apollo says that the pager model allegedly used by Hezbollah members that simultaneously exploded and killed numerous people, mainly in Lebanon, was made by its Hungarian partner.
Israel has condemned an adopted United Nations resolution demanding that all Israeli forces and civilians pull out of Palestinian areas within a year. The resolution also called for an embargo on arms that Israel might use in those areas.
Israel’s atomic chief has warned that Syria built an undeclared nuclear facility after Iran, which he said has “in alarming amounts conducting covert nuclear activities.”