War in Ukraine: massive bombing by Russia on the city of Sloviansk
Eva Deschamps / July 6, 2022
The city of Sloviansk, the next target of Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, is undergoing a massive bombardment, announced Tuesday uits mayor, calling on residents to take shelter.
Sloviansk! Massive bombardment of the city. The center, the north. Everyone stays safe, wrote Vadim Liakh, the mayor of this city of some 100,000 inhabitants before the war, on Facebook.
Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly called on civilians remaining in Sloviansk to leave the region, while the front line is now just a few kilometers away after the capture of the cities of Severodonetsk and Lyssychansk by the Russian army.
At least six people were killed and 19 others were injured since Sunday in shooting in Sloviansk, which caused fires.
Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, the regional administrative center still under Ukrainian control, are the next targets of Russian forces, who are continuing their offensive to take control of the Donbass region in the east.
In 2014, Sloviansk had been for some months under the control of pro-Russian separatists fighting alongside Moscow forces in their conflict with Kiev forces.