Dozens killed, injured In massive Russian strike in Ukraine

By Stefan J. Bos

It did not take long before Ukraine faced the deadly impact of a significant retaliation by Russia.

Rescue workers carry the dead and wounded after a Russian overnight strike hit residential apartment blocks in the south-eastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia.

The strike came shortly after Moscow said a truck bomb killed at least three people on the Kerch bridge connecting the Russian-occupied Crimea peninsula with the Russian mainland. Russia also replaced its top general to lead the offensive in Ukraine.

Now, traumatized Ukrainian survivors sit outside between death and destruction. Dozens more are rushed to the hospital, including children.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a statement that 'merciless strikes on peaceful people were 'absolute evil' perpetrated by what he called 'savages and terrorists.

Residential areas

Russia has been accused of increasingly targeting residential areas as it faces enormous losses on the battlefield.  

Fighting is also intensifying in eastern Ukraine, where reporters have seen dead Russian soldiers and their personal belongings littering the landscape.

Ukraine's forces are advancing in the Luhansk area. It is one of four regions Russia claimed to have annexed recently.

But in reality, the situation remains unstable, including here in the Torske village from where Russian soldiers were forced to withdraw.

They are among thousands of Russian troops who retreated from the area these days, leaving behind massive destruction in villages, forests, and on roads.

And with both sides appearing unwilling to talk about peace, this devastating war continues claiming the lives of both fighters and civilians.