Casualties in Ukrainian bombing of a Russian border village as battles intensify in several fronts on Donbas

Two people were killed when a Ukrainian missile hit a Russian village near the two countries’ borders, the region’s regional governor said Sunday.

The rockets landed in the village of Suzymka, east of the border between the two countries, according to Alexander Bogomaz, governor of Bryansk region.

“As a result of the bombing by Ukrainian nationalists, unfortunately, two civilians were killed,” Bogomaz said in a statement on Telegram.

He added, “According to preliminary data, a residential building was completely destroyed, in addition to two other houses partially”.

This comes in the wake of Russia’s resumption of heavy missile attacks on Ukrainian cities, killing 23 people, including a baby.

A large fire broke out on Saturday in an oil depot in the Russian-controlled Crimea after a drone attack, the day after Kiev announced that the stage of preparation for its large-scale counter-attack was nearing an end.

Officials installed by Moscow in eastern Ukraine reported that Ukrainian bombing killed nine people, including an eight-year-old girl, in the city of Donetsk.

In addition, a Ukrainian military spokesman said on Saturday that Ukraine still controls an important supply route to Bakhmut, but the situation is still really difficult in the besieged city in the east of the country.

Russian forces have been trying for ten months to fight their way through the rubble towards what was once a city of 70,000 people.

Kiev pledged to defend Bakhmut, which Russia considers a springboard to attack other cities.

“For several weeks now, the Russians have been talking about taking control of the ‘Road of Life’, as well as the continued control of shooting on it,” Serhiy Sherevaty, a spokesman for the Ukrainian forces in the east, said in an interview with a local news website.

“Yes, it is really difficult there, because their attempts to control the road are continuing, as well as attempts to control the shooting, but the defense forces didn’t allow the Russians to ‘cut off’ our logistics,” he added.

The “Road of Life” is a vital route between the ruined Bakhmut and the neighboring town of Chasev Yar to the west, a distance of just over 17 kilometers.

Military analysts note that if Bakhmut fell, Chasev Yar would likely be the next stop under a Russian attack, although it is on higher ground and Ukrainian forces are believed to have built defensive fortifications nearby.