At least five killed in Ukrainian strikes on border regions, Donetsk: Russian officials

At least five people have been killed and nine others injured after three separate Ukrainian drone and artillery strikes on the Russian border provinces of Belgorod and Kursk, the city of Donetsk, which Moscow claims to have annexed, reported Reuters, on Saturday (May 11) citing local officials. This comes as Russia said it had captured six villages in Ukraine’s east after a surprise ground offensive.

Five killed in Ukrainian strikes

A missile strike on a restaurant in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, killed three people and wounded eight, said Denis Pushilin, the Russian-installed head of the region.

“As a result of a direct strike on the Paradise restaurant in Donetsk’s Kirov district, three civilians were killed: a woman who worked at the restaurant and two diners,” said Pushilin, adding that “сurrently we know of eight injured”.

WATCH |Russia mounts assault on Ukraine's second largest city Kharkiv

A girl, three women and four men sustained injuries which were described by the Russian-installed official as minor to moderately severe.

Pushilin said that there were two strikes conducted using the United States-developed HIMARS precision rocket launchers, which hit the restaurant and damaged the roof of a partially constructed building nearby.

Meanwhile, Belgorod regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov took to Telegram and said one man had been killed and another had been injured after a Ukrainian drone hit a parked truck in the border village of Novostroyevka-Pervaya.

Also Read |Ukraine war: Over 1,700 evacuated from areas near Russian border in Kharkiv

In the neighbouring region of Kursk, the regional governor Roman Starovoit said one civilian had died in hospital after being wounded in a drone strike in the town of Sudzha, reported Reuters.

Russia claims to have captured six villages in Ukraine’s east

The Russian defence ministry, on Saturday, said that its troops “liberated” five villages – Borisivka, Ogirtseve, Pletenivka, Pylna and Strilecha – in the Kharkiv region near the border with Russia “as a result of offensive actions”.

Moscow also claimed that the village of Keramik in the Donetsk region was also now under Russian control.

Nearly 1,800 Ukrainians evacuated

Earlier on Saturday, Kharkiv governor Oleg Synegubov took to social media and said nearly 1,800 people had been evacuated from the eastern Ukrainian region.

“A total of 1,775 people have been evacuated,” Synegubov wrote on social media. He also reported Russian artillery and mortar attacks on 30 settlements over the past 24 hours.

Also Read |New front opens in Russia-Ukraine war as Moscow launches surprise offensive

A report by news agency AFP said groups of evacuees could be seen in vans and cars with several bags at an evacuation arrival point outside the city of Kharkiv.

Evacuees – many of them elderly – registered and received food and medical assistance in makeshift tents, as per the news agency.

Russia launched an armoured incursion early on Friday, an attack on a new front which may lead to a broader push into the Kharkiv region.

This comes as Ukrainian forces find themselves outgunned and outmanned, while Russian forces have slowly advanced mainly in the Donetsk region to the south.

(With inputs from agencies)

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