Russian launches more deadly airstrikes on eastern Ukraine as Zelensky pleads for unity
Lukyantsi, Ukraine - At least two people were killed in a Russian airstrike on the village of Lukyantsi in the Kharkiv region of eastern Ukraine on Monday, bringing the death toll to at least six as the Kremlin's forces targeted the east.
A further four people were injured in the attack, regional military administrator Oleh Syniehubov said on Telegram. Initial, unconfirmed reports said the guided bomb hit a school building.
Further south, Russian units shelled the city of Sloviansk, according to Ukrainian media. Two residential buildings were severely damaged by the impact of a short-range Grom missile. No information was initially available about any possible casualties.
That came after at least four people were killed in the eastern Ukrainian city of Siversk as a result of Russian shelling, the regional governor said.
He called on Siversk's remaining residents to flee the city, which is located about six miles west of the front line. Siversk had a population of over 10,000 before the war.
Russia has declared the entire Donetsk region to be part of its territory, but only has partial control there.
Russian President Vladimir Putin seeks to claim the provinces of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson, which it has annexed on paper but which are not wholly occupied by Russia.
Zelensky calls for "greater unity"
As Kyiv's forces seek to repel Russia's attacks and the US House prepares to vote on a long-stalled aid package, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky renewed his call for active support from the West, pointing to Western assistance for Israel against Iran's attacks.
It is now clear that not all of Ukraine's facilities can be protected from attacks, Zelensky wrote on Telegram on Monday after a meeting of the Stavka, the Ukrainian armed forces' high command.
"But the intensity of the Russian attacks requires greater unity," he said.
Cover photo: Screenshot/X/@MamedovGyunduz