Russia Shelling Mykolaiv, Chuhuiv Re-taken: Kyiv
Kyiv, March 7: We have more information now on the renewed Russian shelling of the southern port city of Mykolaiv. The city’s mayor has confirmed earlier reports that Moscow’s forces bombarded the city with artillery fire on Monday morning.
In a message posted to Twitter, Olexander Scherba showed Russian troops targeted residential buildings in the city, and shared a video of a block of flats engulfed in flames. “There are many shells in the city that did not explode… do not approach, do not lift, and do not try to move them yourself,” Scherba warned.
The renewed assault comes hours before a ceasefire agreed to by Russian Armed Forces, following a French request to allow humanitarian corridors to operate. This comes a day after Ukrainian forces repelled a Russian attack on the city of 476,100 people and recaptured the local airport.
Ukrainian defence officials also claimed their forces have re-taken the eastern city of Chuhuiv. In an operational update posted to Facebook on Sunday night, Ukraine’s General Staff said that Kyiv’s forces have recaptured the city from Russian troops and inflicted heavy losses on Moscow’s forces during the battle.
Ukrainian officials also claimed that two high-ranking Russian commanders were killed during the battle for the city, which has a population of around 31,000 people, the BBC report said it cannot independently verify these claims. Chuhuiv sits in a strategic location around 23 miles from Ukraine’s second largest city Kharkiv, which has been under heavy shelling from Russian forces for over a week.
