At least 15 dead in Donetsk; They ask to designate Russia as a “sponsor of terrorism”

First modification: 07/10/2022 – 14:09

Russian bombing in Ukraine does not let up. Local authorities are urging people in Kherson and Zaporizhia to evacuate as a rocket attack hit a residential building in Donetsk province, killing at least 15 people.

More than 20 civilians are under the rubble, regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said, and emergency teams are working around the clock to try to rescue them.

The events occurred in the city of Chasiv Yar, with some 12,000 inhabitants, in eastern Ukraine. Kyrylenko assured that the assault was carried out with Uragan rockets, which are fired from systems carried by trucks.

Chasiv Yar, about 20 kilometers southeast of Kramatorsk, may become an even more hemmed-in target for Russian forces as they push west.

They ask to include Russia as a State “sponsor of terrorism”

Andriy Yermak, the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, said the attack on the residential building was “another terrorist attack” and that Russia should be designated a “state sponsor of terrorism” as a result.

In a message broadcast through its Twitter account, the Ministry of Defense supported the request. “In the Russian attack on the city of Chasiv Yar, in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, at least eleven civilians were killed, there are still people under the ruins. Russia must be recognized as a state sponsor of terrorism!” the ministry stressed.

US Senators Richard Blumenthal, of the Democratic Party, and Lindsey Graham, Republican, presented a bipartisan bill to include Russia in that group of countries and expressed confidence that the proposal would be approved in the coming days, after a visit to kyiv in which they met with President Volodymyr Zelensky. .

“I was shaken to the bone to see today the harrowing image of the mass graves in Bucha and the photographs of innocent people with their hands tied behind their backs, massacred in front of their homes, and to see the destruction of kindergartens and civilian targets and so many dead innocent people. If that’s not terrorism, what is?” Blumenthal said, after touring one of the areas hardest hit by Kremlin troops.

Being included in the US Government’s list of countries that sponsor terrorism implies that Washington prohibits the export or sale of weapons and controls certain exports that would improve its military capabilities.

In addition, economic assistance is restricted, since the nations on that list cannot access loans from the International Monetary Fund or other global institutions.

The Kremlin insists on denying the accusations of attacks against the civilian population and justifies its actions in what it calls a “special military action” to “denazify” Ukraine.

However, kyiv, its Western allies and human rights organizations accuse Moscow of committing “war crimes”.

Zelensky fires several ambassadors of his country in Europe and Asia

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenski, confirmed this weekend that he will replace several of the main diplomatic envoys of kyiv, in the capitals of some countries.

Among them, the ambassadors in Germany, the Czech Republic, Norway, Hungary and India.

“This rotation is a normal part of diplomatic practice,” the head of state said in a statement.

It is not yet clear if the retired envoys will be assigned new government positions.

Zelensky has urged his diplomats to obtain international support and military aid for Ukraine as it tries to fend off the Russian invasion ordered by President Vladimir Putin on February 24.

With Reuters and local media