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Article by APA/dpa/Reuters • 4 hours ago
The Russian military has fired rockets at the center of the city of Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine. At least three people were injured and one killed in the attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday, according to a statement shared on social media. According to Zelensky, these acts inevitably result in "just" punishment. Six apartment buildings were damaged by the missile strike, he said
Russian Missile Attack on Kramatorsk© Provided by APA
The front line runs about 20 kilometers east of Kramatorsk. The heavily contested town of Bakhmut is located around 30 kilometers from the city. Before the war began, over 140,000 people lived in Kramatorsk. As of December, around 80,000 people are said to have remained there.
Recently, Ukrainian military analysts have been critical of the adherence to the Battle of Bakhmut. "We have information that Ukraine is sending reservists to Bakhmut who were trained in Western countries. And we are suffering casualties among the reservists that we intended to use for counter-offensives," said Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov. "We could lose everything we wanted to use for these counter-offensives here."
Ukrainian military historian Roman Ponomarenko said the threat of encirclement at Bakhmut was "very real". "If we just give up Bakhmut and withdraw our troops and equipment, nothing bad can happen," Ponomarenko told Ukrainian Radio NV, "if they close the ring, we will lose men and equipment."
Meanwhile, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that Moscow could only achieve its goals in Ukraine with military force. "We have to achieve our goals. Due to the current position of the Kiev regime, this is currently only possible by military means," he said, according to Russian news agencies.
The Russian leadership justifies what it calls the military special operation with the protection of Russian-speaking people in eastern Ukraine. The government in Kiev is described as a Nazi regime from which Ukraine must be liberated. Ukraine and Western countries, on the other hand, speak of an unprovoked Russian war of aggression aimed at conquering parts of Ukrainian territory.
