The death toll from Russian strikes that destroyed a restaurant in the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk rose to 11 dead and around 60 injured on Wednesday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced a “terrorist” attack and announced the arrest of an individual who allegedly “coordinated” Russian fire. Kramatorsk police say Russia fired two S-300 missiles — surface-to-air missiles it also uses for ground strikes — at the pre-war city of 150,000.
The Russian Ministry of Defense for its part claimed to have struck a “temporary deployment point” of the 56th mechanized infantry brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces, and the spokesman of the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, assured that Russia “ does not target civilian infrastructure”.
The strike destroyed the Ria Pizza restaurant, a downtown establishment popular with journalists, aid workers and soldiers. Ukrainian media have mentioned the presence of foreign military instructors in town. Three Colombian personalities – the famous writer Héctor Abad, the politician Sergio Jaramillo and the journalist Catalina Gómez, correspondent in Ukraine for France 24 – were slightly injured while dining in the restaurant with the Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina, who is “in critical condition,” according to a statement.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has accused Russia of “violating” the laws of war. Russian President Vladimir Putin is now “a pariah across the planet”, for his part declared his American counterpart Joe Biden from Washington.
An important railway hub and home to military sites, Kramatorsk is very regularly targeted by Russian bombardments. The deadliest was that of the train station, struck in April 2022, which left 61 dead and more than 160 injured a few weeks after the start of the Russian invasion and when a crowd of civilians tried to leave the city.
Kyiv’s counter-offensive continues
At the same time, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian forces Valery Zaluzhny assured that five days after the failed rebellion of the paramilitary group Wagner against Moscow, the counter-offensive in Kiev was following its course and recording “progress”.
“The enemy is putting up strong resistance, but at the same time suffering heavy losses,” he said in a Telegram message after a phone call with his American counterpart Mark Milley, as the effects on the military situation and on Russian power the events of the last few days in Russia are at the center of all questions.
Asked about a possible weakening of Vladimir Putin, US President Joe Biden replied: “It’s hard to say, but he is clearly losing the war. »
From kyiv, where he was on Wednesday with his Lithuanian counterpart, Polish President Andrzej Duda expressed concern about the transfer, according to him, to Belarus of 8,000 fighters from the Wagner group. “Difficult for us to exclude that the presence of the Wagner group in Belarus could pose a threat,” he said.
He was joined by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who warned of any “threat” posed by Wagner’s presence in Belarus, bordering Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, three member countries of the Atlantic Alliance.