KYIV - At least 22 people were wounded when Russia struck the western Ukrainian town of Chortkiv, the regional governor said on Sunday.
The strike was a rare attack in the west of the country.
“Yesterday at 19:46 (1646 GMT) Chortkiv was hit by four missiles, all fired from the Black Sea,” Volodymyr Trush said in a Facebook post.
He said all 22 people wounded, who included seven women and a 12-year-old, had been taken to hospital.
Trush, governor of the Ternopil region where Chortkiv is located, said “a military installation was partially destroyed” in the attack “and residential buildings were damaged”.
Russia’s defence ministry said the strike on Chortkiv destroyed a “large depot of anti-tank missile systems, portable air defence systems and shells provided to the Kyiv regime by the United States and European countries”.
Chortkiv, which was home to nearly 30,000 people before the Russian invasion, is located 140 kilometres (around 90 miles) north of the border with Romania and 200 kilometres southeast of Lviv, the largest city in western Ukraine.
Unlike eastern and southern Ukraine, which have borne the brunt of Russian firepower since Moscow invaded on February 24, the west of the country has only seen sporadic attacks. Russian strikes in the west tend to target military installations housing weapons and military equipment supplied by Western powers.
EU chief promises a signal on Ukraine’s bid next week
The European Commission will provide a clear signal next week on Ukraine’s EU candidate status bid, its chief Ursula von der Leyen has said, as fighting rages in the east and south of the country.
Making a surprise visit to Kyiv on Sunday, von der Leyen said talks she held with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “will enable us to finalise our assessment by the end of next week” -- the first time the bloc has publicly given a sense of timing. Zelensky has pressed for rapid admission into the EU to reduce Ukraine’s geopolitical vulnerability, which was brutally exposed by Russia’s February 24 invasion.
But officials and leaders in the bloc caution that, even with candidacy status, EU membership could take years or even decades.
Von der Leyen, appearing alongside Zelensky during her second visit to Kyiv since the war began, made no promises, noting further reforms were needed.The Ukrainian president warned it was a “decisive time” for his country and the EU.
“Russia wants to ruin European unity, wants to leave Europe divided and wants to leave it weak. The entirety of Europe is a target for Russia. Ukraine is only the first stage in this aggression,” he said.
Despite reservations among some member states, EU leaders are expected to approve Ukraine’s candidate status at a summit on June 23-24, though with strict conditions attached.
Addressing the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore on Saturday, Zelensky highlighted the dangers of a food crisis posed by Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports. He warned of “an acute and severe food crisis and famine”, adding that the “shortage of foodstuffs will inexorably lead to political chaos” -- all of it “the direct consequence of the acts of the Russian state”.
Also Saturday, Lugansk regional governor Sergiy Gaiday cited reports of Russians loading trucks with Ukrainian wheat and taking it to Russian-controlled areas.
Before the war, Russia and Ukraine produced 30 percent of the global wheat supply, but grain is stuck in Ukraine’s ports and Western sanctions have disrupted exports from Russia.
At the summit, Zelensky urged international pressure to end the blockade, speaking to delegates including Chinese defence minister Wei Fenghe, who on Sunday reiterated Beijing’s position on the crisis. “On the Ukrainian crisis, China has never provided any material support to Russia,” he said, adding they supported peace negotiations and hoped “NATO will have talks with Russia”.
| Strike also wounds at least 22 in west Ukraine, says Governor
The strike was a rare attack in the west of the country.
“Yesterday at 19:46 (1646 GMT) Chortkiv was hit by four missiles, all fired from the Black Sea,” Volodymyr Trush said in a Facebook post.
He said all 22 people wounded, who included seven women and a 12-year-old, had been taken to hospital.
Trush, governor of the Ternopil region where Chortkiv is located, said “a military installation was partially destroyed” in the attack “and residential buildings were damaged”.
Russia’s defence ministry said the strike on Chortkiv destroyed a “large depot of anti-tank missile systems, portable air defence systems and shells provided to the Kyiv regime by the United States and European countries”.
Chortkiv, which was home to nearly 30,000 people before the Russian invasion, is located 140 kilometres (around 90 miles) north of the border with Romania and 200 kilometres southeast of Lviv, the largest city in western Ukraine.
Unlike eastern and southern Ukraine, which have borne the brunt of Russian firepower since Moscow invaded on February 24, the west of the country has only seen sporadic attacks. Russian strikes in the west tend to target military installations housing weapons and military equipment supplied by Western powers.
EU chief promises a signal on Ukraine’s bid next week
The European Commission will provide a clear signal next week on Ukraine’s EU candidate status bid, its chief Ursula von der Leyen has said, as fighting rages in the east and south of the country.
Making a surprise visit to Kyiv on Sunday, von der Leyen said talks she held with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “will enable us to finalise our assessment by the end of next week” -- the first time the bloc has publicly given a sense of timing. Zelensky has pressed for rapid admission into the EU to reduce Ukraine’s geopolitical vulnerability, which was brutally exposed by Russia’s February 24 invasion.
But officials and leaders in the bloc caution that, even with candidacy status, EU membership could take years or even decades.
Von der Leyen, appearing alongside Zelensky during her second visit to Kyiv since the war began, made no promises, noting further reforms were needed.The Ukrainian president warned it was a “decisive time” for his country and the EU.
“Russia wants to ruin European unity, wants to leave Europe divided and wants to leave it weak. The entirety of Europe is a target for Russia. Ukraine is only the first stage in this aggression,” he said.
Despite reservations among some member states, EU leaders are expected to approve Ukraine’s candidate status at a summit on June 23-24, though with strict conditions attached.
Addressing the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore on Saturday, Zelensky highlighted the dangers of a food crisis posed by Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports. He warned of “an acute and severe food crisis and famine”, adding that the “shortage of foodstuffs will inexorably lead to political chaos” -- all of it “the direct consequence of the acts of the Russian state”.
Also Saturday, Lugansk regional governor Sergiy Gaiday cited reports of Russians loading trucks with Ukrainian wheat and taking it to Russian-controlled areas.
Before the war, Russia and Ukraine produced 30 percent of the global wheat supply, but grain is stuck in Ukraine’s ports and Western sanctions have disrupted exports from Russia.
At the summit, Zelensky urged international pressure to end the blockade, speaking to delegates including Chinese defence minister Wei Fenghe, who on Sunday reiterated Beijing’s position on the crisis. “On the Ukrainian crisis, China has never provided any material support to Russia,” he said, adding they supported peace negotiations and hoped “NATO will have talks with Russia”.
| Strike also wounds at least 22 in west Ukraine, says Governor
