Civilians bear brunt of armed conflict between Russia, Ukraine

By Ali Cura

MOSCOW (AA) - Civilians have been bearing the brunt of the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Two civilians were killed when a rocket hit a school in the city of Horlivka, which is under the control of pro-Russian separatists in the Donetsk region.

The separatists accused the Ukrainian army of firing the rocket and claimed the deputy head and a teacher lost their lives in the explosion.

There were no students in the school due to the tense situation, they said.

Meanwhile, Iryna Venediktova, Ukraine's prosecutor general, claimed that Russian forces opened fire on an orphanage in the city of Vorzel, located near the capital Kyiv.

Noting that the orphanage was home to 50 children, she said that there were no casualties since the children and staff were in another building.

Earlier, Ukraine’s foreign minister on Friday accused Russia of attacking a kindergarten and orphanage in what he described as “war crimes and violations of the Rome Statute.”

"Together with the General Prosecutor’s Office we are collecting this and other facts, which we will immediately send to the Hague. Responsibility is inevitable," Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter, referring to the UN International Court of Justice.

Russia's military intervention in Ukraine entered its second day on Friday, with the latest reports indicating that Russian troops were heading toward the capital Kyiv from several directions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered the military intervention on Thursday, just days after recognizing two separatist-held enclaves in eastern Ukraine.

He claimed that Moscow had no plan to occupy the neighboring country, but wanted to "demilitarize" and "denazify" Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of trying to install a puppet government and said Ukrainians will defend their country against Russian aggression.