Russia claims capture of two villages in Ukraine
- 29 March, 12:57
Russia on Saturday claimed it captured two villages and a settlement in south and east of Ukraine amid US-brokered talks to end the three year old war.
The Russian Defence Ministry said its army captured the villages of Shchebraki in southern Zaporizhzhia and Panteleimonivka village in eastern Donetsk region. Russian forces also captured the settlement of Veselivka in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia launched 170 drones over his country on Saturday night. He said four people were killed in the air strike on a hotel complex and 21 others were injured. Furthermore, Zelenskiy called for Western response to nearly daily Russian drone strikes on the Ukrainian territory.
“Russia is making a mockery of peacekeeping efforts around the world. It is dragging out the war and sowing terror because it still feels no real pressure,” the Ukrainian leader stressed.
Within an hour of Zelenskiy’s nghtly video remarks, Russia launched deadly airstrikes on civilian infrastructure on Ukraine’s second-largest Kharkiv city, killing two people and injuring dozens others. The Ukrainian military described as a “war crime” the drone attack that targeted a military hospital and a shopping center in Kharkiv city.
The attack came amid stumbling efforts of the Trump administration to end the war in Ukraine that stretches to the fourth year. In the recent weeks, the White House sought to negotiate a ceasefire in the Black Sea as well as the truce involving halt in attacks on energy grid.
