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Vinnytsia death toll climbs to 23, dozens missing
The central Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia is reeling from a Russian missile attack that struck civilian buildings and a cultural centre, killing at least 23 people – including three children – and wounding dozens more.
As the city of 370,000 – many of whom fled from eastern Ukraine to escape frontline artillery fire – wakes up, rescue teams continue to comb the wreckage as authorities report 39 people are still feared missing
Ihor Klymenko, the national police chief, said only six of the dead had been identified so far. Of the 66 people taken to hospital, five remained in critical condition while 34 sustained severe injuries, Ukraine’s state emergency service said in an update issued just after 10pm on Thursday.
A Russian submarine in the Black Sea fired Kalibr cruise missiles at the city, the deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
The Russian military did not immediately confirm the strike, but Margarita Simonyan, head of the state-controlled Russian television network RT, said on her messaging app channel that military officials told her a building in Vinnytsia was targeted because it housed Ukrainian “Nazis”.
Key events:
Mykhailo Podolyak, the head of Ukraine’s negotiating team and a key adviser to President Zelenskiy, has dismissed Russia’s claims that Ukrainian missiles attacked Donetsk and Kakhovka as “Z-propaganda”.
Russian-backed officials claimed earlier this week that at least seven people were killed and around 70 more injured by a Ukrainian missile strike on a large ammunition store in the town of Nova Kakhovka, in Russia-occupied Kherson.
Kyiv said it had launched artillery barrages that destroyed a Russian arms depot, hitting artillery, armoured vehicles “and a warehouse with ammunition”, and in addition carried out a “special operation” to free military captives in the Moscow-controlled region.
Russian-backed authorities accused Ukraine of damaging civilian infrastructure and claimed civilians had been hit.
Writing on Twitter today, Podolyak said Ukrainian troops attack “only military warehouses and command posts in temporarily occupied territories”.
In contrast, Russia “kills civilians for fun”, he said.
Z-propaganda says that Ukrainian missiles attacked Donetsk and Kakhovka. The reality: 🇺🇦 attacks only military warehouses and command posts in temporarily occupied territories. We are waging a liberation war against 🇷🇺 terrorists, freeing hostages. RF – kills civilians for fun.
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) July 15, 2022
It has not been possible to independently verify the battlefield accounts.
Summary of the day so far …
- At least 23 people, including three children, were killed and up to 66 others wounded after Russian missiles struck civilian buildings and a cultural centre in the city of Vinnytsia, in central Ukraine. The attack on Vinnytsia, far from the war’s front lines, occurred mid-morning on Thursday when the streets were full of people. Ihor Zhovkva, deputy head of the office of the president of Ukraine, said that “more than 70 people are still in hospital” and “18 people are missing, and the rescue operation is going on”. Eleven bodies, including two children, remain unidentified.
- A top Ukrainian official said the missile attacks in Vinnytsia were an “approved military strategy” by Vladimir Putin. Mykhailo Podolyak, the head of Ukraine’s negotiating team and a key adviser to Zelenskiy, said Russian forces were attacking “peaceful” Ukrainian cities such as Vinnytsia, Kremenchuk, Chasiv Yar and Kharkiv in order to force Ukrainians to “peace at any price”, Podolyak wrote on Twitter. Russia’s attacks on peaceful Ukrainian cities were not a mistake but an approved military strategy
- A four-year-old girl was killed in the Vinnytsia strike with social media posts charting her life and death. Footage – which the Guardian is not publishing – showed Liza Dmitrieva lying dead in her overturned pushchair. “A girl is among the dead today in Vinnytsia, she was four years old, her name was Liza. The child was four years old!” Zelenskiy said. “Her mother is in critical condition.”
- Vitaliy Kim, governor of Mykolaiv, has said that the city’s universities have been struck by Russia this morning.
- Russian and pro-Russian Luhansk People’s Republic separatist forces claim to have entered the outskirts of Siversk in Ukraine’s Donbas, the UK Ministry of Defence has said. Acknowledging that reports have not corroborated, the ministry said Russian forces have been slowly advancing westwards and probing assaults towards Siversk from Lysychansk to open a pathway onward to Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.
- Russia has banned investigative news outlet Bellingcat and its partner The Insider. Russia’s prosecutor general said their activities “posed a threat to… the security of the Russian federation”. A statement said both organisations will be added to Russia’s “undesirable” list, which bans them from operating in Russia and makes cooperating with them illegal for Russian organisations and individuals. Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins questioned how it can be applied, given that it has no official presence in Russia
- New satellite images show an expanding mass grave site in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol, according to a report published by the UK-based Centre for Information Resilience (CIR). Investigators at CIR used satellite images to determine that approximately 1,400 new graves were added at the Mariupol Starokrymske cemetery between 12 May and 29 June.
That’s it from me, Martin Belam in London. I will be back next week. Léonie Chao-Fong will be here shortly to continue our live coverage of Ukraine.
Over the last couple of days, some journalists have been allowed into areas of Ukraine occupied by Russian military authorities. Here are some of the images sent to us on the tightly-organised visit.
Russia’s ministry of defence has claimed without providing any evidence that yesterday’s missile strike on Vinnytsia was aimed at a military target – a meeting of Ukrainian air force command.
In its daily operational briefing, Russia claims:
On 14 July, Kalibr high-precision sea-based missiles hit the building of the garrison house of officers in the city of Vinnytsia.
At the time of the strike, a meeting of the command of the Ukrainian air force with representatives of foreign arms suppliers was held at this military facility on the issues of transferring the next batch of aircraft and weapons to the armed forces of Ukraine, as well as organising the repair of the Ukrainian aviation fleet. As a result of the strike, the meeting participants were destroyed.
More than 70 people remain in hospital after the strike on the central Ukrainian city, which killed at least 23 people, including three children. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has called the Russian attack in Vinnytsia “an open act of terrorism”.
Reuters have a quick snap, citing Russian news agency Tass, to say that Paul Urey, a British man who was captured by Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine and accused of being a mercenary has died. Urey and another British man, Dylan Healy, were detained in April.
More details soon …
Oleh Synyehubov, governor of Kharkiv, has posted to Telegram to say that Russian rockets struck educational establishments in his region. He stated that the targets were not military, and that there was “no military infrastructure, only civilian facilities” nearby.
He said there were no casualties. The claims have not been independently verified. Moscow has repeatedly denied targeting civilians.
The mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Syenkevych, has provided some more details on the strikes on the city this morning on Telegram. He has posted:
Again, the Russian occupiers fired at educational institutions in Mykolaiv! Rescuers and emergency teams are already working on the ground. Currently, two injured are known. This time, the Russians struck Mykolaiv around 7.50am, knowing full well that there were already many people on the streets at that time. Real terrorists!
He has also posted some pictures of a damaged building, identifying it as Sukhomlynskyi Mykolaiv National University, and stating:
Near it, our utility workers have already cleared the street of stones and various debris. Traffic has been restored.
The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) has issued its daily military operational briefing. It now claims to have “liberated” 251 settlements alongside troops from Russia and the similarly self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR). That is an increase on the 242 it claimed yesterday. It does not specify which settlements it now claims to control.
It claims that three people were killed and 16 civilians were injured in shelling on 11 settlements by Ukrainian forces. None of the claims have been independently verified. Russia, Syria and North Korea are the only UN member states that recognise the DPR and LPR as legitimate authorities.
Pjotr Sauer
New satellite images show an expanding mass grave site in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol, according to a report published by the UK-based Centre for Information Resilience (CIR).
Investigators at CIR used satellite images to determine that approximately 1,400 new graves were added at the Mariupol Starokrymske cemetery between 12 May and 29 June.
CIR researchers estimate that five times more new graves are being dug each month than before the Russian invasion.
“Our report illustrates the continuing, extreme pressure on civilian life in Ukraine, especially in occupied areas. Makeshift burials and the growing number of graves around Ukraine, particularly in and around occupied areas, is a stark illustration of the civilian death toll following the Russian invasion,” said Benjamin Strick, the director of investigations at CIR.
Russia announced in late May that it had taken control of Mariupol, after a nearly three-month siege that reduced much of the port city to smoking ruin.
Read more of Pjotr Sauer’s report: 1,400 graves dug at Mariupol cemetery since mid-May, images suggest
11 bodies including children yet to be identified after Vinnytsia strike
Eleven bodies, including two children, remain unidentified after yesterday’s strike on Vinnytsia. Ihor Zhovkva, deputy head of the office of the president of Ukraine, also told Sky New viewers in the UK that “more than 70 people are still in hospital” and “18 people are missing, and the rescue operation is going on.”
Of the missile strike, he said “it is unbelievable, each time it happens in a civilian city, where there is no military people, no military objects, just the central square of a city. Unfortunately it happens practically, if not every day, but every week.”
He pledged that Ukraine would bring justice to those responsible, saying “every person who was responsible for this blast, the person who was pushing the button – and we already know there were Kalibr missiles fired from the submarine and the inventory of the Black Sea – every person responsible for planning and executing this operation will be definitely brought to justice.”
Universities in Mykolaiv struck by missiles – reports
Vitaliy Kim, governor of Mykolaiv, has said that the city’s universities have been struck by Russia this morning.
He tweeted:
Today Russian terrorists attacked two biggest universities in Mykolayiv. At least ten missiles. Now they attack our education. I’m asking Universities of all democratic countries to claim Russia what it is really is – the Terrorist
The message was accompanied by a video clip which appears to show buildings on fire.
Today russia-Terrorist attacked 2 biggest Universities in Mykolayiv. At least 10 missiles. Now they attack our education. I’m asking Universities of all democratic countries to claim russia what it is really is- the Terrorist pic.twitter.com/VNiRxNbT89
— Віталій Кім / Vitaliy Kim (@vitalij_kim) July 15, 2022
Lviv’s regional governor Maksym Kozytskyi has cautioned against disinformation being spread on social media after an air raid warning in his western region of Ukraine last night. He posted to Telegram:
The sirens sounded an air alarm once. It lasted almost two hours. There was a threat of a missile strike from the Black Sea. The threat did not come true. Everything is calm in the Lviv region.
By the way, while the alarm continued, a number of Telegram channels and some Facebook users spread false information that explosions were allegedly heard in the Lviv region. Think about whether you should follow such “sources” of information.
Kozytskyi said yesterday a further 172 people arrived in Lviv from the east of the country in evacuation trains, and that 842 people left Lviv heading for Przemyśl in Poland.
Russia has banned investigative news outlet Bellingcat and its partner The Insider. Russia’s prosecutor general said their activities “posed a threat to… the security of the Russian federation.”
A statement said both organisations will be added to Russia’s “undesirable” list, which bans them from operating in Russia and makes cooperating with them illegal for Russian organisations and individuals.
Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins has questioned how it can be applied, given that it has no presence in Russia, tweeting “Bellingcat has been declared an undesirable organisation in Russia, along with our partners The Insider. Bellingcat has no legal, financial or staff presence, so it’s unclear how Russia expects to enforce this.”
He also posted a gif of Jim Carrey as film character the Mask accepting an award.
Reuters reports that in broad moves to stamp out opposition and dissent, Russia has labelled dozens of international non-governmental organisations and civil society groups as “undesirable”, and hundreds of domestic groups and journalists that oppose the Kremlin have been named “foreign agents”.
Friday’s edition of Today in Focus asks is Britain’s homes for Ukraine scheme working?
Nosheen Iqbal travelled to the village of Nether Poppleton near York to visit a family who have opened their home to a mother and her children from Ukraine. There have been teething problems and, due to the language barrier, the children have been struggling to settle into their new school. But, here at least, the scheme is working as it was intended. It is not the case everywhere.
Nosheen hears from the Guardian’s Emily Dugan, who reports that hundreds of Ukrainian refugees in the UK have been left homeless after the relationship with their hosts broke down. There have also been fears that the ad hoc nature of the scheme has left it open to abuse from men who are using it to make contact with vulnerable women and children.
You can listen to it here: Today in focus – Is Britain’s Homes for Ukraine scheme working?
The Kyiv Independent is carrying some quotes from people who were at the scene of the Vinnytsia strike yesterday, as well as those who were treating the victims.
IT specialist Andrii Artymovych was in bed when the missiles struck nearby, and he told the Kyiv Independent that “Military planes fly here all the time, but this was something unusual. The glass shattered and I rolled out of bed. There was glass everywhere.”
Vasyl Nahaichuk, the deputy chief of the Vinnytsia oblast hospital’s burn unit said “There is a young woman, a 20-year-old who was brought to us today. Her injuries are incompatible with life. Her burns cover 98% of her body and they are deep burns. We also admitted a 60-year-old woman. Her burns cover 80% of her body, but they are not as deep as those of that young woman. Their age differs, however, and it matters.”
Nahaichuk explained that a level of 30% burns is usually fatal.
Anna Myroniuk writes that Kostiantyn Gozdyp, a local prosecutor, said “Some of the bodies can’t be identified in any manner but through a genetic examination. There are children burned alive, adults burned alive.”
Read more here: Kyiv Independent – Victims ‘burned alive’ in deadly Russian strike on Vinnytsia, says local prosecutor
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