Russia-Ukraine War Updates: 11 Killed in ‘Terror Attack’ at Russian Military Site; Power Out in Kyiv After Missile Strike

Russia-Ukraine War Updates: A series of high-profile setbacks on Russian forces continued on Saturday as two attackers opened fire on a Russian military training ground, killing at least 11 and injuring 15.

The attack came as missile strike seriously damaged a key energy facility in Ukraine’s capital region on Saturday. After an explosion last week damaged the bridge that links Russia to the annexed Crimean Peninsula, the Kremlin launched what is believed to be its largest coordinated missile attacks since the initial invasion of Ukraine in February this year.

News18 rounds up the top updates on the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine: 

• At least 11 people were killed and 15 more wounded at a Russian military training ground on Saturday when two attackers opened fire on a group of volunteers who wished to fight in Ukraine, RIA news agency said. RIA, citing the defence ministry, said the two assailants had been shot dead after the attack in the southwestern Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine. “As a result of the shooting, 11 people were fatally wounded. Another 15 people with wounds of varying severity were taken to a medical facility,” a defence ministry statement said as per RIA.

• A missile strike seriously damaged a key energy facility in Ukraine’s capital region, the country’s power system operator said Saturday as the Russian military strove to cut water and electricity in populated areas. Kyiv region Gov. Oleksiy Kuleba said the strike did not kill or wound anyone.

• Putin said there is no need for more massive strikes on Ukraine, days after the heaviest bombardment of the country since the war began. He said most designated targets of the strikes had been hit, adding that it was not his aim to destroy Ukraine, the BBC reported. Moscow’s goal of mobilising 300,000 men would be met within two weeks, he said.

• Ukrainian troops are still holding the strategic eastern town of Bakhmut despite repeated Russian attacks while the situation in the Donbas region remains very difficult, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an evening address on Saturday. He also said Russian missiles and drones had continued to hit Ukrainian cities, causing destruction and casualties.

Fighting is particularly intense in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk provinces bordering Russia. Together they make up the larger industrial Donbas, which Moscow has yet to fully capture. Russian forces have repeatedly tried to seize Bakhmut, which sits on a main road leading to the cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, as per Reuters. Both are situated in the Donetsk region.

• Saudi Arabia on Saturday announced $400 million in humanitarian aid for Ukraine, the official SPA news agency said, adding that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had made a phone call to President Volodymyr Zelensky.

• The United States will send an additional $725 million in military assistance to Ukraine, the State Department and Pentagon announced Friday. The aid comes “in the wake of Russia’s brutal missile attacks on civilians across Ukraine,” and “the mounting evidence of atrocities by Russia’s forces,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

• International Monetary Fund member countries on Friday issued a near-unanimous call for Russia to end its war in Ukraine, the IMF’s steering committee chair said, calling the conflict the single biggest factor fueling inflation and slowing the global economy.

(With agency inputs)

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