Lhe city of Mykolaiv, in southern Ukraine, was the target of massive Russian bombardments, probably “the strongest” since the beginning of the war. According to the mayor of the city, Oleksandre Senkevych, “powerful explosions” were heard twice in the night from Saturday to Sunday. The governor of the region, Vitali Kim, reported two deaths, a couple of civilians, in these strikes.
They are Oleksiï Vadatoursky, 74, owner of the main Ukrainian cereal logistics company Niboulon, and his wife Raïssa Vadatourska, who were at home at the time of the strikes. Millionaire and “hero of Ukraine”, Oleksiï Vadatursky was the 24e Richest Ukrainian on the magazine’s list Forbes in 2021. Before the war, his company exported grain to 70 countries.
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Zelensky calls for evacuation of Donetsk
Other strikes hit the regions of Kharkiv (east) and Sumy (north-east). A few buildings were damaged in a series of explosions in Kharkiv. One person was killed and two were injured in the Sumy area, which has been the target of more than 50 strikes in the past 24 hours. Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the Donetsk region, where Moscow is concentrating the bulk of its attacks, said three civilians were killed and eight injured in shelling on Saturday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday evening called on the population to evacuate the Donetsk region in the east of the country, whose cities are the target of deadly bombardments, to escape “Russian terror”. “Hundreds of thousands of people and children are still in the areas of fierce fighting in the Donetsk region. (…) The more people who leave the Donetsk region now, the less the Russian army will kill,” he said, assuring that a government decision on the compulsory evacuation of the region had been taken.
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