Ukraine missile attack on Sevastopol causes many casualties

Sevastopol Mayor Mikhail Razvozhaev said the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) attacked the city on Sunday afternoon, June 23, local time. Russian air defense systems were active and intercepted at least five targets.

The Sevastopol mayor added that fragments of the downed missile fell on the coastal area, injuring dozens of people. In addition, fires were reported in the forest near Lazur, along with a building in the city that caught fire when an ATACMS missile was shot down.

Ukraine used ATACMS missiles to attack the city of Sevastopol, causing heavy casualties. Photo: Defense News

More than 100 casualties

Initially, according to the Russian Emergency Situations Service, the AFU attack left 14 casualties in the Uchkuevka and Lyubimovka areas.

Later, the Mayor of Sevastopol confirmed that the number of victims had risen to more than 100, including three deaths. All ambulance teams in the city were asked to assist the victims as quickly as possible.

According to Shot, one of the victims of the attack was an elderly woman who was swimming in the sea at the time of the attack. The AFU attempted to attack families who were visiting the beach on their day off.

US ATACMS missiles were used in the attack.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry , the AFU attacked Sevastopol's civilian infrastructure with American ATACMS tactical missiles with cluster warheads. Four missiles were shot down, and another missile deviated from its flight path due to being hit by an air defense system, causing its warhead to explode in the air. Missile fragments were scattered in many areas of the city.

The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, called the AFU attack on Sevastopol a crime to boost media coverage. “The attack on Trinity Day was not chosen by chance,” she said.

The Russian Defense Ministry also said the US was responsible for the AFU attack on Sevastopol.

“All ATACMS tactical missile strikes were carried out by American specialists based on the US's own satellite reconnaissance data ,” the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Accordingly, responsibility for a deliberate missile attack on civilians in Sevastopol lies with Washington, the country that supplied ATACMS missiles to Ukraine. The Russian Defense Ministry also added that the air defense system intercepted many missiles, but their fragments caused injuries to people who were on the beach.

AFU continuously counterattacks in Kharkov

In the direction of Kharkov, the AFU tried to counterattack all week in the Glubokoye area, near Ternova and in the center of the town of Volchansk. The fighting was fierce with significant losses on both sides. According to Rybar, in the direction of Slobozhansky (Kharkov), Ukraine continued to attack the Liptsy - Glubokoye area, but failed with huge losses in human lives and military equipment.

In Donetsk, Russian combat units continue to advance into Georgievka and Krasnogorivka, despite Kiev's efforts to prevent this with counterattacks. According to some sources, Ukrainian troops entrenched in Krasnogorivka are withdrawing from the settlement.

In the direction of Avdeevka, Russian troops advanced on both sides of the Karlovskoye reservoir, although Ukrainian troops attempted to break through between Netailovo and Pervomaisky to cut off the Russian attack. Fighting continued in Sokil and surrounding areas.

In the direction of Vremevka, Russian units are fiercely attacking the village of Urozhayne, while Ukrainians are trying to counterattack from the direction of Makarivka, but are unsuccessful.

Near Toretsk, the Russian army is advancing into some areas where the AFU has been forced to retreat to move its mobile forces to Kharkov. It is expected that this front will collapse if Russian assault units break through the front. The newly controlled positions of the Russian side are 100-200m higher than the remaining positions of the Ukrainian side. The battle of Toretsk is increasingly similar to the Ocheretine area north of Avdeevka. The AFU basically has no reserve forces in this area to block the attack from the Russian side.

Over the past 24 hours, in Toretsk, Russian troops not only entered the settlements of Severnoye and Druzhba, along the railway line, but also took control of Zelenaya and Mira Streets and part of Kievskaya Street.

The AFU is trying to slow down the Russian advance by all means possible. However, if Yuzhnoye falls, all Ukrainian plans will fall apart. If the Russian army successfully consolidates and enters the settlement from two directions at the same time, it will be the end of the defense of Toretsk.

The Russian military operations in the Toretsk area increasingly resembled the battles for Avdeevka, where Ukraine, knowing full well that the enemy would try to flank and encircle the city, deployed its best units and reserves to defend it. But they did not expect that the Russian attack would hit the entire defense line and the front would collapse. The consequences of the fall of Toretsk would be no less serious than those of Avdeevka, to the point that the AFU has not yet been able to take an active defensive position.

Source: https://congthuong.vn/chien-su-nga-ukraine-hom-nay-ngay-2462024-ukraine-tap-kich-ten-lua-sevastopol-khien-nhieu-nguoi-thuong-vong-327877.html