Ukraine claims 20 civilians including child killed in Russian shelling in Donetsk, Luhansk

Russian bombardment in the Donetsk and Luhansk areas killed 20 people, including a child, claimed the Joint Forces Task Force of Ukraine on May 16. According to a statement on the military task force's Facebook page, 25 towns in the region were targeted, with 42 residential buildings and a school among the targets.

Meanwhile, according to Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy, the evacuation of wounded Ukrainian troops from the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol is underway, with more than 260 fighters taken out of the factory. The troops have completed their combat mission, according to the military's general office. The deputy defence minister of Ukraine has stated that a "exchange procedure" will be used to return evacuees to their homes.

Ukrainian officials stated that Ukrainian troops in the country's north-east had driven Russian forces out of Kharkiv and marched all the way to the Russian border. According to British intelligence, Ukrainian forces in the east of the country could be hindered by Russia's ally Belarus, which is mobilising special forces near Ukraine's northern border. Further, Russian forces have shelled frontline positions in eastern Donbas region, as fighting intensifies around Severodonetsk, the easternmost city still held by Ukrainian forces after more than 11 weeks of conflict. 

Russia-Ukraine War

According to Western military intelligence, Russian President Vladimir Putin is personally invested in Moscow's conflict to the point where he is making tactical decisions and micro-managing the movement of Russian forces in Ukraine. In contrast to Kyiv's allegations, Putin is running the battle "at the level of a colonel or brigadier" alongside Russian Commander of Armed Forces General Valery Gerasimov, according to media sources.  

"We think Putin and Gerasimov are involved in tactical decision making at a level we would normally expect to be taken by a colonel or a brigadier," a western military officer told The Guardian on condition of anonymity.

More than 6 million people have fled Ukraine, while at least 19,000 people have died attempting to cross the central Mediterranean to reach Europe since 2014, and those who arrive frequently experience abuse and lack access to critical services, according to President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Francesco Rocca. He stressed, "Ethnicity and nationality should not be a decisive factor in saving lives."

(With agency inputs)

(Image: AP)