STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT. Vinnytsia. Russian missiles struck the city of Vinnytsia in central Ukraine on Thursday, killing at least 12 people in what President Volodymyr Zelensky called “an open act of terrorism.”
Ukraine’s emergency services said there were “12 dead, including one baby, and 25 wounded” and dozens of rescue workers were fighting to put out a large blaze sparked by the strikes.
In east Ukraine, Moscow-backed troops said they were closing in on their next target.
“Siversk is under our operational control, which means that the enemy can be hit by our aimed fire all over the area,” a pro-Moscow rebel official, Daniil Bezsonov, was cited as saying by Russian state-run news agency TASS.
At a Ukrainian trench position along the eastern frontline, a 25-year-old soldier who goes by the nom de guerre Moryak was working to fortify defenses.
“We hide when they shell, we dig when it’s calm,” he told AFP journalists.
A fellow combatant in their trench dismissed the idea Ukraine and Russian forces could reach an agreement to halt the fighting, explaining their goal was: “Total victory.” (Red/Moscow Times)
