Officials said Kalibr cruise missiles fired from a Russian submarine in the Black Sea hit civilian buildings in Vinnytsia, which is 268 kilometers southwest of the capital, Kyiv. The governor of the Vinnytsia region, Serhiy Borzov, said that Ukrainian air defense shot down two of the total of four missiles fired. National Police Chief Ihor Klymenko said only six of the dead have been identified so far, while 39 people are still missing. Of the 52 people hospitalized, five remain in critical condition and 34 were seriously injured, regional health department chief Olha Zadarozhnia told The Associated Press. Three children are among the injured. “There was a building of a medical organization. When the first rocket hit it, glass fell from my windows,” said Vinnytsia resident Svitlana Kumbas, 74. “And when the second wave came, it was so deafening that my head is still buzzing. It tore through the outermost door, it tore right through the holes.” Ukraine’s Interior Minister Denis Monastirsky, center right, reacts with sadness at the scene of a building in Vinnytsia damaged by rocket attacks. (Efrem Lukatsky/The Associated Press) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the attack deliberately targeted civilians. “Every day Russia destroys the civilian population, kills Ukrainian children, directs missiles at civilian objects. Where there is no military [targets]. What is it if not an open act of terrorism?’ Zelensky wrote on Telegram. Ukraine’s Interior Minister Denis Monastirsky echoed Zelensky, calling the missile attack a “war crime” intended to intimidate Ukrainians as the country’s forces continue to hold out in the east. Vinnytsia is one of the largest cities in Ukraine, with a population of 370,000. Thousands of people from eastern Ukraine, where Russia has focused its offensive, have fled there since the start of the war. Rescuers work at the scene in Vinnytsia, Ukraine on Thursday. Ukrainian officials say at least three rockets hit the heart of the city. (Efrem Lukatsky/The Associated Press) The rockets started a fire that spread to 50 cars in an adjacent parking lot, officials said. “These are fairly high-precision missiles… They knew where they were hitting,” Borzhov told the AP. Borzhov said 36 houses were damaged and residents had been evacuated while a 24-hour hotline had been set up for information about injured or missing people.
Victims were reported in other incidents
Before the missiles hit Vinnytsia, the president’s office reported the death of five civilians and the wounding of eight others in Russian attacks over the past day. One person was injured when a rocket damaged several buildings in the southern city of Mykolaiv early Thursday, Ukrainian authorities said. A rocket attack on Wednesday killed at least five people in the city. A damaged building is seen at the site of the strikes in Vinnytsia. Ukrainian officials said the missiles were fired from a Russian submarine. (Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters) Russian forces also continued artillery and missile attacks in eastern Ukraine, mainly in Donetsk province, after overtaking neighboring Luhansk. The town of Lysychansk, the last major stronghold of the Ukrainian resistance in Luhansk, fell to Russian forces earlier this month. Luhansk and Donetsk together make up the Donbass, a predominantly Russian-speaking region of steel, mining and other industries. Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kirilenko urged residents to evacuate as quickly as possible. “We urge citizens to leave the area, where electricity, water and natural gas are in short supply following the Russian shelling,” Kirilenko said in televised comments. “The fighting is intensifying and people should stop risking their lives and leave the area.” A view of a damaged building and a car at the site of the Russian military offensive in Vinnytsia, which is located about 270 kilometers southwest of the capital, Kyiv. (Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters) The British Ministry of Defense said on Thursday that despite continued shelling in the Donbass region, Russian forces have not made significant territorial gains in recent days. “The aging Soviet-era vehicles, weapons and tactics used by Russian forces do not lend themselves to rapid recovery or momentum building unless deployed in overwhelming mass – which Russia is currently unable to pull off.” , the British ministry said. Both Russian forces and Ukrainian soldiers are seeking to replenish their depleted supplies of unmanned aerial vehicles to pinpoint enemy positions and guide artillery strikes. Each side is seeking to acquire advanced jam-resistant drones that could provide a decisive advantage in battle. Ukrainian officials say the demand for such technology is “huge,” with crowdfunding efforts underway to raise the necessary cash for purchases.
Progress has been made in the war crimes protocols
Meanwhile, Canada was among 45 countries that agreed Thursday at a conference in The Hague, home of the International Criminal Court (ICC), to coordinate investigations into suspected war crimes in Ukraine. The Canadian delegation included Attorney General David Lametty and Lisa Helfand, ambassador to the Netherlands. THE pic.twitter.com/xzmaEZvzVM —@AmbLisaHelfand The steps to be taken include the creation of an umbrella group to avoid duplicate investigations, the training of Ukrainian prosecutors and the expansion of the number of forensic teams operating in Ukraine. The countries also pledged 20 million euros ($26 million Cdn) to help the ICC, as well as the office of the general prosecutor in Ukraine and the United Nations support efforts. With some 23,000 war crimes investigations now open and different countries running teams, the evidence must be reliable and organized, officials said.
