An assault on a renowned bakery in a city within the eastern Ukraine region under occupation resulted in the death of at least 20 individuals, according to a statement by Russia‘s emergency ministry, which attributed the incident to Ukrainian artillery fire.
The Russian emergency services reported the recovery of 20 bodies from the debris in Lysychansk, as announced through a Telegram post.
The ministry also disseminated footage showing rescue operations involving the extraction of survivors and deceased individuals from the wreckage.
Reuters managed to locate an earlier video depicting the establishment, known as the Adriatic Restaurant located on Moskovska Street in Lysychansk, although the specifics and date of the footage released by the ministry could not be confirmed. There has yet to be an official response from Ukrainian authorities regarding the event.
Russian-appointed officials have claimed that the assault was conducted using High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) provided by the U.S., noting that the victims had an average age of 35, as reported by TASS, a state-controlled news agency in Russia.
Before the conflict initiated by Russia, Lysychansk had a population nearing 110,000 and was overtaken by Russian forces in the summer of 2022, located approximately 15 kilometers from the demarcation with Ukrainian-held territories.
This bombardment occurred concurrently with Ukraine’s air defense forces announcing the interception of nine out of 14 Russian drones aimed at central and southern regions of Ukraine, primarily targeting energy facilities in the Dnipropetrovsk area.
Krivy Rig, the birthplace of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was significantly impacted by this drone assault, leaving 15,000 residents without electricity, as reported by Agence France-Presse, albeit without any casualties.
In related developments, the British Defense Ministry highlighted a surge in Ukrainian agricultural exports in December, marking a peak since the onset of the Russian invasion, significantly bolstered by the reactivation of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, thereby enhancing global trade and food supply chains.
Furthermore, the presence of Ukrainian missile systems and unmanned naval vessels has effectively restricted Russian naval activities in the western Black Sea.
Additionally, Denise Brown, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, denounced an attack on humanitarian workers in southern Ukraine that resulted in two fatalities and three injuries.
