Donetsk Region (Ukraine), June 30: Drone footage from Ukraine’s military released on Sunday has shown what appears to be bodies in a civilian area in the embattled town of Toretsk in the east of the country.
The town in the war-torn Donetsk region has come under heavy Russian bombardment in recent days, prompting a scaled-up evacuation effort by Ukrainian rescue services.
Local officials said that powerful Russian glide bombs have also been used in the town, the latest eastern front flash point as Russian attacks continue to put stretched Ukrainian front-line units on the defensive.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that Russia had dropped more than 800 glide bombs in Ukraine in the past week alone.
“Ukraine needs the necessary means to destroy the carriers of these bombs, including Russian combat aircraft, wherever they are. This step is essential,” he wrote in an online post.
Russian attacks in recent weeks have focused on the town of Chasiv Yar further north as Ukrainian commanders in the area say their resources remain stretched, thanks largely to a monthslong gap in military assistance from the US.
Ukraine is still struggling to stabilize parts of its front line after desperately needed military assistance was approved by the United States in April. Zelenskyy called on countries assisting Ukraine to further relax restrictions on using Western weapons to strike military targets inside Russia. (AP)
