Russia said to have targeted civilians in strike on Donbas apartment block

At least 15 people were killed and more than 30 are feared trapped after Russian Uragan rockets hit a five-storey apartment block in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, leading to the building collapsing, the region’s governor said on Sunday.

Ukraine also reported clashes with Russian troops on fronts in the east and south, as the US sought to marshal international support in opposing Moscow’s invasion.

Donetsk governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said the strike on the apartment building took place on Saturday evening in the town of Chasiv Yar. The regional emergency service gave the death toll at 15 on Sunday afternoon, adding that 24 more people could still be under the rubble.

Russia, which says it is conducting a “special military operation” to demilitarise Ukraine, denies deliberately attacking civilians.

Luhansk and Donetsk provinces, parts of which were held by pro-Russian separatists before the conflict began in February, comprise the eastern industrial region of the Donbas that Russia is seeking to take over.

Ukraine’s military said Russian forces attacked Ukrainian positions near the town of Sloviansk in Donetsk but were forced to withdraw. Russian forces had launched a cruise missile attack on the northeastern city of Kharkiv from their side of the border. No details of damage or casualties were given.

Luhansk region governor Serhiy Gaidai said Russian forces were gathering in the vicinity of the village of Bilohorivka, about 50km east of Sloviansk.

“The enemy is shelling the surrounding settlements, carrying out air strikes, but it is still unable to quickly occupy the entire Luhansk region,” he said on Telegram.

“Last night alone, the Russians launched seven artillery barrages and four rocket strikes.”

Russia has claimed it controls all of Luhansk province. Reuters could not independently verify battlefield accounts.

Russia’s Tass news agency, meanwhile, cited pro-Russian separatists as saying Ukrainian artillery launched a barrage in residential districts of the city of Donetsk.

Ukrainian military spokespersons were not immediately available for comment.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday the Russian army had attacked civilians on purpose.

Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Zelensky, said in a Telegram post that the strike was “another terrorist attack”, and that Russia should be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism as a result.

Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on February 24 to degrade its military capabilities and root out what it calls dangerous nationalists. Kyiv and its Western allies say the invasion is an unprovoked land grab.

Ukrainian forces have mounted stiff resistance, and the West imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia in an effort to force it to withdraw.

In the south, Ukrainian forces fired missiles and artillery at Russian positions including ammunition depots in the Chornobaivka area, Ukraine's military command said.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken, on a trip to Asia, has urged the international community to join forces to condemn Russian aggression.

He told journalists on Saturday he voiced concern to his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, over Beijing’s alignment with Moscow.

The two met for more than five hours on the sidelines of a gathering of Group of 20 foreign ministers on the Indonesian island of Bali. Russia’s Sergei Lavrov walked out of a meeting there on Friday, denouncing the West for “frenzied criticism”.

Shortly before the Russian invasion, Beijing and Moscow announced a “no limits” partnership, though US officials have said they have not seen China evade US-led sanctions on Russia or provide it with military equipment.

Zelensky dismissed several of Ukraine’s senior envoys abroad on Saturday, saying it was part of “normal diplomatic practice”. He said he would appoint new ambassadors to Germany, India, the Czech Republic, Norway and Hungary.

Zelensky has urged his diplomats to drum up international support and high-end weapons to slow Russia’s advance.

Ukraine suffered a diplomatic setback on Saturday, when Canada said it would return a repaired turbine that Russia’s state-controlled Gazprom used to supply natural gas to Germany. Ukraine had argued that a return would violate sanctions on Russia.

 Ukraine had argued that a return would violate sanctions on Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin has signalled that the Kremlin was in no mood for compromise, saying sanctions against Russia risked causing “catastrophic” energy price rises.

Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said sanctions were working, echoing calls for more deliveries of high-precision Western weapons. “Russians desperately try to lift those sanctions, which proves that they do hurt them. Therefore, sanctions must be stepped up until Putin drops his aggressive plans,” Kuleba told a forum in Dubrovnik by video link.

Update: July 10 2022
This story has been updated with the higher death toll and additional information.

Reuters