Ukraine War: Dead and injured after Russian missile attack in Kramatorsk

Created: 03/18/2022Updated: 03/18/2022 11:26 am

By: Lukas Rogalla, Katja Thorwarth, Tim Vincent Dicke, Nail Akkoyun, Jennifer Greve, Christian Stör, Delia Friess

The situation in the Ukraine war is getting worse – the news ticker.

• In the Ukraine conflict*, Russia* and Ukraine* face each other.

  Volodymyr Zelenskyj* calls for a no-fly zone over Ukraine, which NATO rejects.

• The capital Kyiv* is the focus of the Ukraine war*.

  The attacks by the Russian military are currently hitting Mariupol hardest.

• Read all about Putin's war in Ukraine here.

>>> Update news ticker <<<

+++ 11.00 a.m .:

According to the head of the Donetsk regional administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko, at least two people died and six people were injured in a rocket attack in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk.

This is reported by CNN, among others.

Further details of the attack are still being clarified, said Kyrylenko.

Kramatorsk was one of the first cities to be attacked by the Russian military since the start of the Ukraine war more than three weeks ago.

Ukraine News: "Luhansk People's Republic" almost completely in Russian hands

+++ 9.40 a.m .:

The Russian army has reported further land gains in the eastern Ukrainian administrative region of Luhansk.

90 percent have been brought under control, said Major General Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the Defense Ministry, in Moscow.

The forces of the "Luhansk People's Republic" had advanced "with the fire support of the Russian armed forces".

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Russia targets Kyiv: explosion at the TV tower

Russia is not progressing as quickly in the war in Ukraine as it might have expected.

In addition to the great resistance of the Ukrainians, the USA also blames Russian logistics problems.

Russia targets Kyiv: explosion at the TV tower

Ukraine: Russians advance on Kyiv from south

The Russians have not yet succeeded in capturing Kyiv, says the Ukrainian Defense Minister.

Russian troops are now advancing from the south.

Ukraine: Russians advance on Kyiv from south

The self-proclaimed "People's Republics" in the Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts have been supported and equipped by Russia since 2014.

The territory they controlled before the February 24 Russian attack included only part of Ukraine's Luhansk and Donetsk regions.

The separatists claim these larger areas - their capture is one of the big Russian goals in the Ukraine war.

The Luhansk Oblast has been hotly contested since the start of the Ukraine war.

The photo shows a destroyed Ukrainian tank near the town of Rubishne.

© Alexander Reka/Imago Images

Konashenkov also spoke of territorial gains by the forces of the "Donetsk People's Republic".

With Russian support, these forces tightened the ring around the port city of Mariupol.

Ukrainian troops were being fought in the city center – the Russian general spoke of “nationalists”.

The information could not be independently verified.

Ukraine-News: US accuses Russian army of war crimes

Update from Friday, March 18th, 2022, 6:55 a.m .:

The situation in the Ukraine war remains tense on Friday morning.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Russia of war crimes in Ukraine.

However, this is his personal opinion.

He referred to a similar statement by President Joe Biden*.

Reason for the allegation: Deliberate attacks on civilians are a war crime.

Officially, the US government has not yet made such a classification, but Blinken referred to ongoing assessments by various experts: "Our experts are in the process of documenting and evaluating possible war crimes being committed in Ukraine." Also according to the US -Defence Ministry, the Russian military in Ukraine is increasingly attacking civilian facilities.

Ukraine-News: Russia accuses Ukrainian army of attacking Luhansk

There are accusations not only from the USA, NATO and Ukraine, but also from Russia: According to Russian information, the Ukrainian army fired five times within 24 hours at five settlements in the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LNR).

This was reported by the Russian state agency TASS on Friday night, citing representatives of the separatists in the LNR.

A metal factory in the small town of Stakhanovka was damaged and now without electricity, according to the Telegram channel of the LNR representative.

In three other places, a total of 18 houses and a preschool were damaged.

The information cannot be independently verified.

Delivering humanitarian aid during the Ukraine war in the village of Varvarovka in the Luhansk region of Ukraine.

© Stanislav Krasilnikov/Imago

Latest news on the Ukraine war: Market in Kharkiv hit by Russian troops shelling

+++ 9.30 p.m .:

The Barabashova market in Kharkiv was hit by the shelling of Russian troops.

This has sparked a series of fires, CNN reports, citing officials in the eastern Ukrainian city.

Videos also show huge plumes of black smoke billowing from several parts of the market.

According to CNN, this suggests that the complex was hit several times.

According to the rescue workers, 70 people are involved in the extinguishing work.

The flames have therefore spread to several nearby houses.

According to the city's mayor, a paramedic died fighting the fire.

The market, which is said to be one of the largest in the world, covers an area of ​​300,000 square meters, according to a tweet from Ukraine's foreign ministry.

News about Ukraine: Attacks by Russia with cluster munitions - residential areas are said to have been hit

+++ 7.45 p.m .:

Russia wants to “continue to besiege Kiev”, a senior US defense official told reporters on Thursday (03/17/2022) according to CNN.

This is shown by the troop movements and the type of weapons that the Russian army is bringing in from behind "to join its advancing elements".

The Russian army has not moved closer to downtown Kyiv in the past 24 hours.

The US, on the other hand, observed that Russia's army was "moving some forces from behind to join its advancing elements."

The official also said that "some of these forces, some of these capabilities are artillery, long-range artillery."

Therefore, it appears that the Russian army "will continue to lay siege to Kyiv," the official said.

"Because that's what you want to use artillery for," he added.

"They are clearly trying, especially around Kyiv, to improve their ability to hit the city with ammunition from a distance," analyzed the defense expert.

Ukraine-News: Three attacks in Mykolaiv with Russian cluster munitions

+++ 6.30 p.m .:

Russia attacked the city of Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine in three separate attacks with cluster munitions missiles within a week, as Human Rights Watch (HRW) announced on Thursday (03/17/2022).

This was also reported by the US news channel CNN.

According to the NGO, six witnesses were interviewed and dozens of videos and photos were reviewed.

As a result, residential areas in the city were hit on March 7, 11 and 13.

According to Human Rights Watch, the images show four dead and remains of the weapons used, including Uragan and Smerch cluster munitions missiles, as well as remains and unexploded 9N210 fragmentation munitions.

The attacks "could amount to war crimes," according to Human Rights Watch.

An attack on March 13 reportedly killed nine civilians who appeared to be queuing outside an ATM.

The attacks also injured several other civilians and damaged homes, businesses and civilian vehicles.

News on the Ukraine war: At least 21 dead after attacks near Kharkiv

+++ 4.40 p.m .:

At least 21 people are said to have been killed and 25 others wounded in the shelling of the Ukrainian city of Merefa by Russian forces.

This is reported by the US news channel CNN, citing a statement from the regional public prosecutor's office.

Merefa is located about 25 kilometers from Kharkiv.

The attack destroyed a school and an art club, prosecutors said.

Ten of the injured are said to be in a life-threatening condition.

Civilian targets in Kharkiv, the country's second largest city, have been shelled by Russia since the Ukraine war began in February.

Ukraine-News: Number of fatalities after theater bombing in Mariupol unclear

+++ 2.55 p.m .:

After the attack on the theater building in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, which served as a shelter, there is still no information about possible fatalities or the condition of the survivors.

Reports by former Donetsk regional head Sergiy Taruta that people emerged alive from the rubble of the building were confirmed by Liudmyla Denisova, the Ukrainian parliament's human rights commissioner.

“Rescuing civilians from the rubble of the theater has begun in Mariupol.

The building withstood the impact of a powerful aerial bomb and protected the lives of the people who hid in the air-raid shelter.

Work is underway to uncover the basement,” Denisova said in a statement on Telegram.

Denisova called the attack "an act of genocide and a terrible crime against humanity within the meaning of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court."

Russia has denied that its forces hit the building, instead accusing "militants from the nationalist Azov Battalion" of blowing up the theater.

The Azov Battalion is an ultra-nationalist militia* that has now been integrated into the Ukrainian armed forces.

News about the war in Ukraine: 130 people have already been rescued from the rubble in Mariupol

+++ 1.45 p.m .:

According to a member of parliament, around 130 civilians have already been rescued from the bombed theater in Mariupol.

The port city has been hard fought for weeks in the Ukraine war.

“Good news, which we so badly need: the air-raid shelter under the Mariupol theater withstood.

About 130 people have already been rescued,” Olga Stefanyschyna wrote on Facebook on Thursday.

Helpers are busy removing debris and freeing other people.

"It's a miracle," says Stefanyschyna.

Earlier, Ukrainian MP Serhiy Taruta had stated that, contrary to all fears, the civilian shelter had not been destroyed.

According to Ukrainian sources, the building was attacked on Wednesday and largely destroyed.

Ukraine-News: City of Chernihiv suffers 'great losses'

+++ 12.36 p.m .:

The head of the regional state administration of Chernihiv, north-east of Kiev and near the Russian border, has stated that the city is suffering “great losses” as it is under a sustained attack by Russian forces.

"The enemy continues systematic artillery and air strikes on our regional center, destroying civilian infrastructure," Vyacheslav Chaus wrote on Telegram.

"Just yesterday (Wednesday, editor's note) 53 bodies of our citizens killed by the Russian aggressor were taken to the city's morgue."

News about the Ukraine war: Bombing despite reference to children

+++ 11.23 a.m .:

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on Thursday that the Russian pilot who bombed the theater used as a civil defense room in the besieged city of Mariupol was a “monster”.

The man dropped the bomb even though the word "children" was written in large letters on two sides of the building, Reznikov said in front of the European Parliament via video link.

It is not clear how many survived the attack.

People emerged from the shelter alive Thursday (see 10:33am update), according to a brief statement posted to Facebook by the former head of Donetsk region.

"You've probably heard that this theater that was hit by rockets is a theater where 1,200 women and children were hiding," Reznikov said.

"And you can see on the maps, on the drones, 'Children' was written around this theater in big letters so the pilot of the plane that dropped the bombs could see 'Children', and yet this monster has it Theater bombed.”

News about the Ukraine war: people apparently survived the attack in Mariupol

+++ 10.33 a.m .:

According to a member of parliament, the air-raid shelter of the building remained intact during a heavy bombing raid on a theater in the besieged port city of Mariupol in Ukraine.

“After a terrible night of uncertainty, on the morning of the 22nd day of the war, finally good news from Mariupol!

The air raid shelter held out,” Serhiy Taruta wrote on Facebook on Thursday morning.

The debris had started to be removed.

“People come out alive!” This information could not initially be verified independently.

According to Ukrainian sources, the building was attacked on Wednesday and largely destroyed.

The Mariupol Municipality, which published a picture of the destroyed building, said Russian forces "purposefully and cynically destroyed the drama theater in the heart of Mariupol." The building hid "hundreds of peaceful residents of Mariupol." Property marked with the word "Children" to deter Russia from airstrikes.

Kyiv and Moscow blamed each other for the bombing.

Officials said more than 1,000 people were sheltering in the theater at the time of the attack.

Ukraine News: Heavy fighting in Luhansk and Donetsk

+++ 09.30 a.m .:

In the east of Ukraine, according to Russian information, there was again heavy fighting around the city of Sievjerodonetsk.

The units of the self-proclaimed "People's Republic" of Luhansk had achieved successes "against Ukrainian nationalists" during the night, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced in Moscow.

Spokesman Igor Konashenkov also reported beatings against Ukrainian troops in the nearby town of Rubishne.

This information could not be independently verified.

The offensive is also continuing in the Donetsk region, said Konashenkov.

The advance was four kilometers.

Other villages were taken.

The separatist leader there, Denis Puschilin, called on Moscow on Russian state television to step up air defenses in the separatist areas.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, there was also an attack on an ammunition dump near the town of Sarny in northern Ukraine.

Rockets were also destroyed.

Ukraine-News: Russian offensives near Kyiv "partially" successful

First report from Saturday, March 12th, 2022:

Kiev - In the Ukraine war, Kiev is again being targeted.

The Russian army is encircling the Ukrainian capital more and more, and presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak spoke of a "state of siege".

Further air raids are also being reported from the west of the country, not far from the border with Poland.

US President Joe Biden meanwhile issues an urgent warning.

All news about the situation in Ukraine: New airstrikes in the west of the country

Russian Air Force strategic bombers are said to have used cruise missiles in the cities of Lutsk, Ivano-Frankivsk and Dnipro.

Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk are located north and south of the city of Lviv, not far from the Polish border.

Rocket attacks were also reported from Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine.

The information could not be independently verified.

According to Ukrainian military information, Russian troops are trying to blockade the north-east Ukrainian city of Chernihiv from the south-west.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy* said that in Chernihiv, an important water main had been damaged by shelling.

As a result, the city with almost 280,000 inhabitants was without water supply.

(df/cs/lrg/tvd/aa/jey/nak/dpa/afp)