At least eight killed, 13 injured in Russian shelling at residential area in eastern Ukraine

At least eight people were killed after Russian artillery shelling hit Ukraine’s Donetsk region on Saturday (July 8), said Kyiv’s interior ministry. Meanwhile, in his first appearance since the Wagner mutiny, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu inspected troops and oversaw training, said the ministry.

At least eight killed in Russian shelling

The regional governor of the eastern Ukrainian city of Lyman, Pavlo Kyrylenko took to the Telegram messaging app and said that the attack took place at around 10:00 am (local time) and “the Russians struck the town with multiple rocket launchers”.

According to the Ukrainian official, the Russian shelling also hit a residential area in the small city. “A house and a shop were damaged. Police are working on the site,” said Kyrylenko.

In an update later, Ukraine’s interior ministry said at least eight people were killed and the number of those injured also rose to 13. The ministry, on social media, also said that a residential building, an annexe to a printing house and three cars were set on fire in the attack, reported AFP.

In a recent update, the Ukrainian forces also said that they repelled Russian troops’ assault attempts near Lyman amid the counteroffensive launched by Kyiv, last month.

Russian defence minister inspects troops

The Russian defence ministry, on Saturday, said Shoigu inspected troops and oversaw the training of the newly formed units made up of contracted servicemen. Notably, it was the defence minister’s first public appearance since last month’s aborted mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group.

“The Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation personally checked the training of contract servicemen in combat operations in various conditions, including urban combat,” said the defence ministry, on Saturday.

The Russian ministry also released footage on Telegram which shows Shoigu in khaki military fatigues inspecting soldiers at a shooting range, reported Reuters.

This also comes days after Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev claimed more than 185,000 new recruits have joined Moscow’s army as professional contract soldiers since the beginning of this year.

Ukrainian shelling in Russian-controlled Donetsk region injurestwo civilians

A report by Russian news agency TASS, on Friday, citing officials said two civilians were wounded in the Russian-controlled part of Donetsk as a result of shelling by Ukrainian troops, who reportedly fired a total of eight such shells.

According to the mission of what Russia refers to as the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), a 155mm shell fired by Ukrainian troops hit a shopping mall in the region, while another shell hit a multi-apartment building nearby and two more houses were damaged.

(With inputs from agencies)

Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

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