![\"Russia](\"https:\/\/c.ndtvimg.com\/2023-06\/rsm21mjg_volodymyr-zelensky_625x300_08_June_23.jpg\"\/ "\\"Russia")
<\/div>\nA “guided air bomb” hit the centre in Kupiansk, said Zelensky. (File)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Kyiv, Ukraine: <\/b><\/p>\n
Moscow escalated its attacks in Ukraine on Saturday, with President Volodymyr Zelensky denouncing a deadly strike on a blood transfusion centre as a “war crime”.<\/p>\n
A separate strike struck a key factory, both attacks coming just hours after Kyiv hit a Russian tanker in the Kerch Strait.<\/p>\n
The attacks were the latest since Moscow exited a deal last month that had ensured Ukrainian grain exports despite the ongoing conflict.<\/p>\n
Russian forces struck the blood transfusion centre in the Kharkiv region of northeast Ukraine, Zelensky said, adding that “dead and wounded are reported”.<\/p>\n
A “guided air bomb” hit the centre in Kupiansk, a city a few dozen kilometres from the Russian border, said Zelensky.<\/p>\n
“Rescuers are extinguishing the fire,” he wrote on social media, adding: “This war crime alone says everything about Russian aggression.”<\/p>\n
The strike came shortly after Zelensky said Russian missiles had hit a facility of the Ukrainian aeronautics group Motor Sich, a maker of plane and helicopter engines and other components.<\/p>\n
It is one of several companies requisitioned by the government since Moscow’s invasion. The Motor Sich site is near Khmelnytskyi in western Ukraine, around 300 kilometres (190 miles) southwest of Kyiv.<\/p>\n
The region, home to a major Ukrainian airbase, has been regularly targeted by Russian strikes in recent months.<\/p>\n
In his evening address, Zelensky remained defiant, insisting that “no matter how many such Russian attacks there are, they will still do nothing for the enemy”.<\/p>\n
– Attack on fuel tanker –<\/p>\n
Earlier Saturday, Ukraine claimed it “blew up” a Russian tanker, the ‘SIG’, that was transporting fuel for Russian troops, a Ukrainian security source told AFP.<\/p>\n
The tanker was hit at around 11:20 pm (2020 GMT) on Friday south of the Kerch Strait, Russia’s Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport said.<\/p>\n
The ship was holed at the waterline in the area of the engine room but was still afloat, the agency said.<\/p>\n
In a video obtained by AFP purporting to show the attack, a vessel is seen approaching a large ship before the connection cuts off.<\/p>\n
The Ukrainian source said the “successful special operation”, which involved a naval drone and explosives, was carried out jointly with the navy in Ukrainian territorial waters.<\/p>\n
The SIG oil and chemical tanker is under US sanctions for supplying jet fuel to Russian forces in Syria, who are supporting President Bashar al-Assad.<\/p>\n
– Crimea focus –<\/p>\n
The Russian foreign ministry condemned the attack on a “civilian vessel”, adding that the crew had not been injured.<\/p>\n
Traffic on a key bridge across the Kerch Strait linking the Moscow-annexed Crimea peninsula to Russia’s mainland resumed early on Saturday after a three-hour halt, according to the Russian highways information centre’s Telegram channel.<\/p>\n
Crimea has been disrupted by several strikes throughout the war but it has seen more frequent attacks in recent weeks.<\/p>\n
Russian forces on Saturday downed a drone over the sea near Sevastopol, city governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said.<\/p>\n
Tensions have risen on the Black Sea overall since Russia pulled out of the agreement protecting grain exports via the shipping hub during the conflict.<\/p>\n
On Friday, Ukraine struck the Olenegorsky Gornyak vessel at the Novorossiysk base in southern Russia, a Ukrainian security source told AFP, “to show that Ukraine can attack any Russian warship in that zone”.<\/p>\n
Russia said it had repelled the attempted attack.<\/p>\n
– Frontline fighting –<\/p>\n
On the front line, Russia said Saturday it had captured the settlement of Novoselivske in northeastern Ukraine, where Kyiv said it was confronted with a growing number of attacks.<\/p>\n
Footage from the Russian army showed Novoselivske completely destroyed, with white smoke billowing over crumbling buildings.<\/p>\n
Ukrainian army spokeswoman Ganna Malyar said Friday that Russian troops were aiming to draw Ukrainian resources to the east, as Ukraine pursues its counter-offensive in the south.<\/p>\n
Ukraine began a fresh attempt in June to push back Russian troops but it has made only modest progress, its forces contending with well-entrenched Russian positions built up over several months.<\/p>\n
With both sides focused on winning on the battlefield, any chance to secure peace looks thin.<\/p>\n
Saudi Arabia is nevertheless hosting talks on the war with representatives from nearly 40 countries — including China, India and South Africa — but not Russia.<\/p>\n
The talks concluded Saturday and as expected, no final declaration was released.<\/p>\n
But a European source said there had been agreement that respect for Ukraine’s “territorial integrity and sovereignty” should be “at the heart of any peace settlement”.<\/p>\n
bur\/acb\/jjMoscow escalated its attacks in Ukraine on Saturday, with President Volodymyr Zelensky denouncing a deadly strike on a blood transfusion centre as a “war crime”.<\/p>\n
A separate strike struck a key factory, both attacks coming just hours after Kyiv hit a Russian tanker in the Kerch Strait.<\/p>\n
The attacks were the latest since Moscow exited a deal last month that had ensured Ukrainian grain exports despite the ongoing conflict.<\/p>\n
Russian forces struck the blood transfusion centre in the Kharkiv region of northeast Ukraine, Zelensky said, adding that “dead and wounded are reported”.<\/p>\n
A “guided air bomb” hit the centre in Kupiansk, a city a few dozen kilometres from the Russian border, said Zelensky.<\/p>\n
“Rescuers are extinguishing the fire,” he wrote on social media, adding: “This war crime alone says everything about Russian aggression.”<\/p>\n
The strike came shortly after Zelensky said Russian missiles had hit a facility of the Ukrainian aeronautics group Motor Sich, a maker of plane and helicopter engines and other components.<\/p>\n
It is one of several companies requisitioned by the government since Moscow’s invasion. The Motor Sich site is near Khmelnytskyi in western Ukraine, around 300 kilometres (190 miles) southwest of Kyiv.<\/p>\n
The region, home to a major Ukrainian airbase, has been regularly targeted by Russian strikes in recent months.<\/p>\n
In his evening address, Zelensky remained defiant, insisting that “no matter how many such Russian attacks there are, they will still do nothing for the enemy”.<\/p>\n
– Attack on fuel tanker –<\/p>\n
Earlier Saturday, Ukraine claimed it “blew up” a Russian tanker, the ‘SIG’, that was transporting fuel for Russian troops, a Ukrainian security source told AFP.<\/p>\n
The tanker was hit at around 11:20 pm (2020 GMT) on Friday south of the Kerch Strait, Russia’s Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport said.<\/p>\n
The ship was holed at the waterline in the area of the engine room but was still afloat, the agency said.<\/p>\n
In a video obtained by AFP purporting to show the attack, a vessel is seen approaching a large ship before the connection cuts off.<\/p>\n
The Ukrainian source said the “successful special operation”, which involved a naval drone and explosives, was carried out jointly with the navy in Ukrainian territorial waters.<\/p>\n
The SIG oil and chemical tanker is under US sanctions for supplying jet fuel to Russian forces in Syria, who are supporting President Bashar al-Assad.<\/p>\n
– Crimea focus –<\/p>\n
The Russian foreign ministry condemned the attack on a “civilian vessel”, adding that the crew had not been injured.<\/p>\n
Traffic on a key bridge across the Kerch Strait linking the Moscow-annexed Crimea peninsula to Russia’s mainland resumed early on Saturday after a three-hour halt, according to the Russian highways information centre’s Telegram channel.<\/p>\n
Crimea has been disrupted by several strikes throughout the war but it has seen more frequent attacks in recent weeks.<\/p>\n
Russian forces on Saturday downed a drone over the sea near Sevastopol, city governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said.<\/p>\n
Tensions have risen on the Black Sea overall since Russia pulled out of the agreement protecting grain exports via the shipping hub during the conflict.<\/p>\n
On Friday, Ukraine struck the Olenegorsky Gornyak vessel at the Novorossiysk base in southern Russia, a Ukrainian security source told AFP, “to show that Ukraine can attack any Russian warship in that zone”.<\/p>\n
Russia said it had repelled the attempted attack.<\/p>\n
– Frontline fighting –<\/p>\n
On the front line, Russia said Saturday it had captured the settlement of Novoselivske in northeastern Ukraine, where Kyiv said it was confronted with a growing number of attacks.<\/p>\n
Footage from the Russian army showed Novoselivske completely destroyed, with white smoke billowing over crumbling buildings.<\/p>\n
Ukrainian army spokeswoman Ganna Malyar said Friday that Russian troops were aiming to draw Ukrainian resources to the east, as Ukraine pursues its counter-offensive in the south.<\/p>\n
Ukraine began a fresh attempt in June to push back Russian troops but it has made only modest progress, its forces contending with well-entrenched Russian positions built up over several months.<\/p>\n
With both sides focused on winning on the battlefield, any chance to secure peace looks thin.<\/p>\n
Saudi Arabia is nevertheless hosting talks on the war with representatives from nearly 40 countries — including China, India and South Africa — but not Russia.<\/p>\n
The talks concluded Saturday and as expected, no final declaration was released.<\/p>\n
But a European source said there had been agreement that respect for Ukraine’s “territorial integrity and sovereignty” should be “at the heart of any peace settlement”.
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(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)<\/i><\/p>\n
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