Ukraine: Ukrainians blame Russian forces for war crime in Stepanky village

LAST UPDATE: 17.48

Ukrainian authorities and witnesses who spoke to Agence France-Presse today accused Russian forces of firing a tank at a house in a village near Kharkiv, killing many civilians.

According to the prosecutor’s office of this region, which borders Russia, the events took place on March 27 in the village of Tsepaki, which was then under the occupation of Moscow but is now under the control of Kyiv again.

“(Russian) soldiers bombed a house with a chariot. Two men and a woman were killed,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement. Neighbors buried the bodies in the yard of the house and yesterday they were exhumed.

Police, however, spoke of four dead and the exhumation of three of them. He also published photos of a burnt house and tombs on which simple wooden crosses had been placed.

According to witnesses questioned by Agence France-Presse, the six occupants of the house were drinking their tea in the yard when a Russian tank approached. “They got up to enter the house to hide. Immediately after (the chariot) knocked on the door. Four people were killed, two were injured,” cried Olga Karpiko, 52, whose daughter was killed by a shell.

Tennis, 40, said he saw the tank barrel turn against them. “Someone said, ‘Let’s go hide in the house,'” he said. “I came in last and immediately after the tank fired. Everything collapsed, I could not see anything. I went out as I could and ran behind the house,” he added.

The prosecutor’s office has launched a preliminary investigation into “violation of the law of war” and “premeditated murder”.

Since the start of the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Russian forces have been accused by Ukrainians of war crimes in the occupied territories, mainly in the Kiev region, from which they withdrew in late March.

On Thursday, US television network A aired footage from surveillance cameras that it said showed Russian soldiers shooting two Ukrainian civilians in the back near a car dealership on the outskirts of Kiev on March 17.

Difficult to do rescue operation in Azofstal

The Ukrainian military leadership has downgraded expectations that an operation will be launched to rescue soldiers and civilians trapped at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol, surrounded by Russian troops.

Russia calls for an immediate end to hostilities The Russian army has installed strong defenses in Mariupol.

The port of strategic importance in the Sea of ​​Azov, in southeastern Ukraine, has been under Russian siege for more than two months.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Irina Verestsuk, about 1,000 Ukrainian servicemen, about half of whom are wounded, are still at the Azovstal facility. Russian sources say 2,500 Ukrainian fighters and foreign mercenaries in the huge factory.

Russia hinted yesterday that it could try to annex Kherson, the only major city it has occupied during the war. Analysts estimate that this could be done through a “referendum” similar to the one that took place years ago in Crimea.

Ukrainian forces continue counterattack north of Kharkov, according to Britain

Ukrainian forces continue their counterattack north of the country’s second largest city, Kharkiv, and are recapturing towns and villages on the border with Russia, Britain announced today.

Russia has reportedly withdrawn units from the area and its forces are likely to re-deploy after making up for the losses suffered on the east bank of the Seversky Donets River, the Pentagon said in a regular Twitter post.

Yesterday, Wednesday, Ukraine announced that its forces had repulsed the Russians in the east and recaptured Pitomnik, a village on the main highway north of Kharkov, about halfway to the border with Russia.

Russia says it has hit two ammunition depots in the Chernihiv region

Russia announced today that its forces had hit two ammunition depots in the Chernihiv region of Ukraine.

Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Russia had destroyed an S-300 anti-aircraft missile system in the Kharkiv region and a radar station near Odessa.

Russia also said it had shot down a Ukrainian drone near Fidonisi, a remote island occupied by Russia on the first day of the invasion.

Three dead and 12 wounded in a Russian air strike in the northeast

Meanwhile, a Russian air strike in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Novgorod-Siversky killed at least three people and injured 12 others overnight, local rescue services were quoted as saying by AFP.

“Three people were killed and 12 were injured in an airstrike” in Novgorod-Siversky, a spokesman for the rescue squad said in a statement.

“Today around 00:10 to 00:23, the enemy launched an air raid, possibly from a (pursuit) Su-30SM,” Ukrainian forces said in a statement.

“(The Russians) have hit critical infrastructure, including schools. Other administrative buildings and homes have also been damaged,” Chernihiv regional governor Vitsislav Chaus said earlier this morning.

He accompanied his message with many photos, which show completely destroyed buildings, charred cars and a cloud of smoke rising from the rubble.

Novgorod-Siversky, which had a population of 15,000 before the war, is located about 50 km from the border with Russia, in an area that had remained relatively intact since Russia withdrew from the region in late March.

Russia calls for evacuation of Kramatorsk and Slovyansk

The Russian military leadership has called on international organizations and aid organizations to take the initiative to evacuate civilians from two cities in eastern Ukraine.

“In view of the deteriorating humanitarian situation for most civilians in Kramatorsk and Slovyansk, we call on the international community, the United Nations, the OSCE and the IAEA to take immediate action to ensure the rapid and safe evacuation of all civilians.” “It’s under the control of the Ukrainian armed forces,” Russian Lt. Gen. Mikhail Mizinchev was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency on Wednesday afternoon.

Lt. Gen. Mizinchev stressed that Ukrainian troops, fortified in Kramatorsk and Slovyansk, were using civilians as human shields.

The senior Russian official also claimed that there were still some 90,000 civilians in the two cities.

These two urban centers are the cornerstones of the Ukrainian army’s defense lines in Donbas, as eastern Ukraine is called.

Russian governor tells of a dead man from Ukrainian fire

One person was killed and seven others were injured when gunmen stormed a rally on Friday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck.

Authorities in the region bordering Ukraine have blamed Kyiv for a series of strikes, including a helicopter raid on a fuel depot. Kyiv, which has repelled a Russian invasion since February, has not claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Thousands of civilians dead

One thousand civilian bodies have been recovered from the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, in recent weeks, the UN human rights chief has said, adding that many of the killings the organization is considering could be tantamount to war crimes.

Phone conversation between Soltz and Zelensky

German Chancellor Olaf Solz had a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky late last night, government spokesman Stephen Hempstreet said.

The Chancellor was briefed on the current situation and the progress of the negotiation process with Russia, during the announcement.

“The Russian Chancellor stressed that Russia continues to call for an immediate end to hostilities in Ukraine and to restore Ukraine’s territorial integrity and (national) sovereignty. The Chancellor and the Ukrainian President also exchanged views on “further support for Ukraine and agreed to stay in touch,” the Berlin statement said.

It is also noted that Mr. Soltz expressed his condolences to Mr. Zelensky for the death of the first president of post-Soviet Ukraine Leonid Kravtsuk. “Ukraine has lost a politician who led it to independence with foresight and courage. In view of Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine, it is now more important than ever to preserve the dream of an independent, free and sovereign Urania,” he said. , during the announcement.

For his part, Mr Zelensky tweeted that he had spoken with Olaf Solz about defense aid, energy co-operation and tougher sanctions against Russia.