According to Ukrainian media, 21 people, including children, have died, while 38 others, including six children and a pregnant woman, are hospitalized. Most of the victims are residents of residential buildings. A day before the attack, Russian forces withdrew from Snake Island, reducing the threat to Ukraine’s important port city of Odesha. However, Russian troops are engaged in efforts to encircle the eastern Luhansk province.
The Kremlin (Russian President’s Office) termed the withdrawal of troops from Snake Island as a “goodwill gesture”. At the same time, the Ukrainian military said that the Russians fled the island in two speedboats after Ukrainian artillery and missile attacks. The exact number of soldiers has not been disclosed. Russian troops in eastern Ukraine are trying to besieged Luhansk, the last stronghold of Ukrainian military resistance in Luhansk, one of the two provinces under the Donbass region.
Luhansk Governor Serhi Hedai said Russia was trying to besieged the city of Lisichansk and fighting to take over an old oil refinery in the city. He told that there is a fierce bombing going on in the city. However, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Friday that Russian and Luhansk separatist forces have seized the refinery as well as a mine and a gelatin factory in Lisichansk “over the past three days”. At the same time, the Ukrainian presidential office said that civilians have also been killed in eastern Ukraine in several Russian attacks in the last 24 hours.