At least 15 killed as rockets destroy housing complex in Ukraine

Russian rockets have hit the eastern Ukraine town of Chasiv Yar, destroying a five-storey apartment building and killing at least 15 people.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the Donetsk region, said about three dozen people could be trapped in the rubble. Rescuers have made contact with two people who are under the wreckage.

Mr Kyrylenko said the town of about 12,000 people was hit by Uragan rockets, which are fired from truck-borne systems.

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Chasiv Yar is about 19km (12 miles) south-east of Kramatorsk, a city that is expected to be a big target of Russian forces as they grind west.

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The Donetsk region is one of two provinces along with Luhansk that make up the Donbas region, where separatist rebels have fought Ukrainian forces since 2014.

Last week, Russia captured the city of Lysychansk, the last big stronghold of Ukrainian resistance in Luhansk.

Russian forces are raising “true hell” in the Donbas, despite assessments they were taking an operational pause, Luhansk governor Serhiy Haidai said on Saturday.

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After the seizure of Lysychansk, some analysts predicted Moscow’s troops would take some time to rearm and regroup.

But Mr Haidai said: “So far there has been no operational pause announced by the enemy. He is still attacking and shelling our lands with the same intensity as before.”

He later said the Russian bombardment of Luhansk was suspended because Ukrainian forces had destroyed ammunition depots and barracks used by the Russians.

Meanwhile, Russian forces struck two Ukrainian army hangars storing US-produced M777 howitzers, a type of artillery weapon, near Kostantinovka in the Donetsk region, the Russian defence ministry said on Sunday.

Civilians in the Russian-occupied southern region of Kherson were urged on Sunday to immediately evacuate because Ukraine’s armed forces were preparing a counter attack there.

Ukraine lost control of most of the Black Sea region of Kherson, including its eponymous capital, in the first weeks following Russia’s February 24th invasion.

Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said in a nationally televised address:

“It’s clear there will be fighting, there will be artillery shelling... and we therefore urge [people] to evacuate urgently. I know for sure that there should not be women and children there, and that they should not become human shields.”

Ms Vereshchuk said she could not say exactly when the counter-attack would take place.

The Kherson region includes the city of Kherson, which before the war had a population of nearly 300,000. It is not known how many of the city’s residents are still there.

Kherson’s Russian-installed authorities say they want to hold a referendum on seceding to Russia, but have not yet set a date. The Kremlin says the future of the region should be determined by its residents.

The Kyiv Independent reported the findings of a poll at the weekend indicating that 44 per cent of Ukrainian businesses think the country’s active war will end by the winter. However, more than one-third think active combat will continue into 2023. — AP/Reuters