At least 14 killed in Russian and Ukrainian exchanges

Russian and Ukrainian attacks on civilian areas in towns and cities, many on the ⁠front line of the more than four-year-old war, killed at least 14 people yesterday, local officials said.

A Russian guided bomb attack on Ukraine's southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia killed three people and wounded 15, regional governor Ivan Fedorov said on Telegram.

Reuters TV footage showed firefighters dousing the aftermath of blazes and crews sifting through the rubble of ‌shattered buildings in the ⁠city, which has come under intensified attack in recent weeks.

Russian missiles struck the Black Sea port of Odesa, another frequent target of Moscow, killing two people.

Deputy Mayor Oleksandr Filatov confirmed the fatalities and the missile strike at the scene. Other officials said eight people, including two children, were wounded.

Residential buildings, a religious institution, a pre-school facility, vehicles and other civilian infrastructure were damaged in the strikes, they said.

Outside the city of Kharkiv, near the Russian ‌border, a Russian drone attack killed one person, the national emergency services said.

Earlier in the ⁠day, a drone attack near the city of Kupiansk, farther ‌east, killed three people.

In the Donetsk region, the focal point of ⁠most ‌fighting along the 1,200km front line, the regional governor said one person was killed and five injured near Kramatorsk, one of the 'fortress towns' where Ukraine ⁠has bolstered defences.

Russian strikes on Kyiv shortly after midnight killed two people and wounded at least five others, including a child, Ukrainian emergency services said.

On the other side of the border, local officials ⁠in Belgorod Region said one person was killed when Ukrainian forces shelled a settlement near the border.

And the Moscow-installed head of areas of Donetsk region under Russian control, Denis Pushilin, said one person had died in an area held by Russian forces.

Reuters could not independently ‌verify accounts from either side.

According to the UN, June was the deadliest month for civilians in Ukraine since April 2022.

Zelensky says Ukraine destroyed Tu-95 bomber

President Volodymyr ⁠Zelensky said today that he had offered the post of chair of Ukraine's defence and ‌security ⁠council to former interior minister Ihor Klymenko.

Mr Zelensky added on Telegram that coordination ‌of defence production will become ⁠Mr Klymenko's ‌separate priority in the new post.

It ⁠remains ‌to be seen whether the current ⁠chairman and Ukraine's top negotiator, ⁠Rustem Umerov, will be offered a new post.

Mr Zelensky also said that Ukraine had ⁠destroyed a strategic Tu-95 bomber in Russia's Engels airbase, about 800km from ⁠the Ukrainian border.

He said in a ‌post on X ⁠that ‌the military plane was used by ⁠Russian ‌troops for missile strikes on Ukraine. "We ⁠are defending ourselves justly ⁠and proactively," he said.

Ukrainians protest in Dublin against plans to move them out of Citywest

Around 30 Ukrainian residents of Citywest have been protesting at the Spire in Dublin City Centre against plans to move them out of their accommodation.

They have been told they must apply to the Department of Justice by today if they wish to be accommodated elsewhere by the state.

But the protesters say the alternatives they have been offered are not suitable.

Nataliia Prokopovych told RTÉ News: "We want government to stop relocations and assess the needs of the vulnerable people.

"A lot of them are connected to HSE services. A lot of them have ongoing treatment. They have their medical team, and they their life and health depends on those connections. They cannot be moved out of this system of life support, because for many of them that will mean like death."

The Ukrainians say the centres they are being asked to move to have shared toilets and bathrooms and that this is not suitable for people with compromised immune systems or people with sight problems.

Yurii Oleksiu is blind and says he would not be able to check if a shared toilet is clean. He says there are also other issues.

"Some of the places are without windows and, for example, I have problem with my cells, and I need to have some like natural light because it simulate my my retina."

Additional reporting by AFP

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